Production numbers: 7j, 15j, 17j, and 21j

[jboger]

For any one company, say Waltham or Hamilton or Elgin, has anyone looked at relative production numbers for 7 j(ewels) vs 15j, versus 17j, versus 21j? This for a specific time period (the 1920s for example) and particular size (16s and/or 18s). We might think that the 7j Waltham is the most common given that it was generally cheaper than more highly jeweled watches. But is such the case? Production numbers might tell a different story. Given that watches were rather expensive item sto begin with, a prospective buyer might have pinched his pennies and opted for a higher grade. This might be reflected in production numbers.

John

 

[Jerry Treiman]

Although not for any specific company or size, Mike Harrold compiled this chart showing what percent of total production was comprised of various jewel counts. This is Figure 9 from his "American Watchmaking: A Technical History of the American Watch Industry, 1850-1930", published as NAWCC Bulletin Supplement No.14 in 1984.

 

[DeweyC]

For any one company, say Waltham or Hamilton or Elgin, has anyone looked at relative production numbers for 7 j(ewels) vs 15j, versus 17j, versus 21j? This for a specific time period (the 1920s for example) and particular size (16s and/or 18s). We might think that the 7j Waltham is the most common given that it was generally cheaper than more highly jeweled watches. But is such the case? Production numbers might tell a different story. Given that watches were rather expensive item sto begin with, a prospective buyer might have pinched his pennies and opted for a higher grade. This might be reflected in production numbers.

John

John,

You can derive this for Hamilton from one of the tables availabe, I forget which one but it lists by model.production year and production numbers, Of course Hamilton made an extremely small number of watches under 17 J. So it may not get you what you want. I would guess Waltham, Elgin or maybe Illinois would be the best bet for looking at price point demand.

 

[jboger]

Harrold's plot is very interesting and I believe it answers my question. It looks like 7j watches dominated the market. I see production of 9-13 jewel watches, although never a big part of the market, tapered off in the 1880s. I assume this parallels the decline in production of keywind watches. What would also be interesting to see would be a plot of total production by jewel count--and by size--over the same period. I imagine we would see an overall increase in production followed by a decline starting sometime in the 1920s as smaller pocket watches (12s for example) increased in popularity to be finally displaced by the wristwatch.

 

[John Cote]

What a great analysis. I know I have seen it before but I can't see it enough. Just for the sake of the archives, here is the file cleaned up a little.

 

[musicguy]

You can see from the chart that best watches were 19j




Rob