Charles E. Hale & Co (hallmark C.E.H. & co)

[paulstephen]

Anyone have information on the Charles E. Hale Watch case company?

[Harold Visser]

C.E.H. & Co. from Boston was succeeded by Wheeler, Parsons and Hayes in the early 1860s, they cased some of the very early Howards.....

[paulstephen]

Mr. Visser,
Thank you for the information. Are there any reference materials you can suggest. I am extremely interested in the Charles E. Hale Company and have found very little.

[Clint Geller]

Hi,

There is not much information available about CEH & Co., and some of the published information is incorrect. In the first published book on Howard watches, Col. George Townsend suggested that "C.E.H. & Co." merely stood for E. Howard & Co. (the "C" notwithstanding) and "...later the 'C' was dropped" [sic]. This suggestion, which continues to cause a world of confusion among modern collectors, really doesn't make much sense when you think about it. As Harold noted above, Chas. Crossman, in his history of American Watchmaking which was written from 1885 to 1887 [date source: Adams Brown edition of Crossman, which may be in error yet again, see below], said that the firm of Chas. E. Hale & Co. (the actual originator of the case marking in question) was "...succeeded in business by Wheeler, Pasons & Hayes..." Well, in fact Crossman wasn't precisely correct either. Judging from surviving Howard watches, it is vey likely that Chas. E. Hale & Co. was succeeded in business some time between 1861 and 1863 by the firm of Wheeler, Parsons & Co. Later this firm added another partner and became Wheeler, Parsons & Hayes some time before 1885 when Crossman wrote his history, but probably after 1875. For a more extensive discussion of early Howard case makers and casing issues, please see my August 1995 NAWCC Bulletin article.

[Jon Hanson]

MORE INCORRECT INFORMATION

The correct dates of Crossman:

56 Crossman papers were published between July 1886 and July 1, 1891 in the Jewelers Circular and Horological review, a trade journal.