Kent
01-19-2004, 05:21 AM
Frank:
The American Waltham Watch Co. had its origins in the 1850's. It was the first successful company in America to manufacture watches in mass production using machinery to make identical (or at least, near identical) parts. Over the next hundred years or so of its existence, its output of jeweled watches (over 34 million) was only exceeded by one other company, the National Watch Co. at Elgin, IL. Commonly referred to as "Waltham," the company made a full line of watches ranging from modest, affordable watches to some of the finest watches made in this country.
Without the full serial number I can't know for sure, but your watch sounds like an Appleton, Tracy & Co. grade. You can get some more details by entering the movement serial number at the NAWCC Information Storage - Waltham Serial Number Data Base (http://www.nawcc-info.org/WalthamDB/LookupSN.asp).
The Appleton, Tracy & Co. grade was one of the better watches that Waltham made during the 1880's. If the movement plates are nickel, its a higher grade watch than if they are gilded. You can see where it fit into Waltham's line in an 1887 catalog page at:
http://elginwatches.org/scans/sales_catalogs/1887_S_F_Myers/m_waltham_watches.html
(you should copy this link and paste it in your browser address bar since directly linking to this website from the NAWCC Message Board is not possible)
The Appleton, Tracy & Co. grade was also suitable for railroad time service during that era, and Waltham advertised it as such, see link below. To learn more about railroad time service and railroad standard watches, see "Just What Is A Railroad Watch?" On the Pocket Horology, NAWCC Chapter 174 Website (http://www.pockethorology.org/).
Only a small percentage of American watches (or Swiss watches for the North American market) were cased at the factories prior to the mid-1920's. Most watch companies just made movements (the "works") in industry standard sizes. The case companies made cases in those same sizes. The practice at that time was to go to a jeweler, select the quality of the movement and then pick out the desired style and quality of case. The jeweler would then fit the movement to the case in a matter of moments.
Or, watches were sold by mail-order. Large outfits such as Sears, Roebuck & Co., Montgomery Ward, or T. Eaton (in Canada), would offer the movements in a variety of cases of different design and quality in their catalogs. Smaller mail-order retailers would case the watches, typically in a 20-year gold filled case and offer it only that way, with the buyer not having a choice of cases.
The "8811" on the rim of the case sounds like the last four digits of the case serial number. The full number sould be inside of the back cover. If there are any case maker's identifing marks inside the back, let us know and we may be able to tell you a little about the case.
You have a nice heirloom,
Kent
That guy down in Georgia :smile:
P.S. As it says in the upper left-hand corner of this page, we don’t provide timepiece values. However, once you learn the proper description of your watch, you should be able to find similar watches offered by internet dealers, or on eBay, and see what they are selling for.
The American Waltham Watch Co. had its origins in the 1850's. It was the first successful company in America to manufacture watches in mass production using machinery to make identical (or at least, near identical) parts. Over the next hundred years or so of its existence, its output of jeweled watches (over 34 million) was only exceeded by one other company, the National Watch Co. at Elgin, IL. Commonly referred to as "Waltham," the company made a full line of watches ranging from modest, affordable watches to some of the finest watches made in this country.
Without the full serial number I can't know for sure, but your watch sounds like an Appleton, Tracy & Co. grade. You can get some more details by entering the movement serial number at the NAWCC Information Storage - Waltham Serial Number Data Base (http://www.nawcc-info.org/WalthamDB/LookupSN.asp).
The Appleton, Tracy & Co. grade was one of the better watches that Waltham made during the 1880's. If the movement plates are nickel, its a higher grade watch than if they are gilded. You can see where it fit into Waltham's line in an 1887 catalog page at:
http://elginwatches.org/scans/sales_catalogs/1887_S_F_Myers/m_waltham_watches.html
(you should copy this link and paste it in your browser address bar since directly linking to this website from the NAWCC Message Board is not possible)
The Appleton, Tracy & Co. grade was also suitable for railroad time service during that era, and Waltham advertised it as such, see link below. To learn more about railroad time service and railroad standard watches, see "Just What Is A Railroad Watch?" On the Pocket Horology, NAWCC Chapter 174 Website (http://www.pockethorology.org/).
Only a small percentage of American watches (or Swiss watches for the North American market) were cased at the factories prior to the mid-1920's. Most watch companies just made movements (the "works") in industry standard sizes. The case companies made cases in those same sizes. The practice at that time was to go to a jeweler, select the quality of the movement and then pick out the desired style and quality of case. The jeweler would then fit the movement to the case in a matter of moments.
Or, watches were sold by mail-order. Large outfits such as Sears, Roebuck & Co., Montgomery Ward, or T. Eaton (in Canada), would offer the movements in a variety of cases of different design and quality in their catalogs. Smaller mail-order retailers would case the watches, typically in a 20-year gold filled case and offer it only that way, with the buyer not having a choice of cases.
The "8811" on the rim of the case sounds like the last four digits of the case serial number. The full number sould be inside of the back cover. If there are any case maker's identifing marks inside the back, let us know and we may be able to tell you a little about the case.
You have a nice heirloom,
Kent
That guy down in Georgia :smile:
P.S. As it says in the upper left-hand corner of this page, we don’t provide timepiece values. However, once you learn the proper description of your watch, you should be able to find similar watches offered by internet dealers, or on eBay, and see what they are selling for.