Company Histories

Several lasted less than a year, others failed before the turn of the new century, and only a few survived the Great Depression.

Here are histories of nearly every American watch company, including production totals, places and dates, facts and trivia, and the talented men who made it all happen.

The National Watch Co was founded in Elgin, Illinois by several prominent Chicago businessmen as the Civil War raged. Work began as soon as the new factory was completed, which would eventually turn out some 54 million watches, equaling the total output of all other American brands combined. 

1874 - 1966

The stockholders voted to rename the venture Elgin Watch Co in 1874. Many smaller grades were added and in 1876 the demand was so great that the small London office was closed and the workers transferred. By 1880 some of the men who built the company began to pass away, and new officers were elected. The firm employed over 2,000 workers producing 7,500 watches a week in a factory covering 169,000 square feet with its own gas system, fire brigade, carpenter shop, and generating station. The company began selling wristwatches after 1900 and built the National Observatory in 1910 to measure celestial time.

The Hamilton Watch Co was incorporated in Pennsylvania from the remnants of the Aurora, Lancaster, Keystone, and Adams & Perry companies. The Columbian Watch Co was briefly considered as the new name before the stockholders chose Hamilton for the brand.

1877 - 1884

A syndicate with new investors re-organized the failed Adams & Perry Co in 1877 as the Lancaster Co, using the same building. After re-structuring twice more over the next seven years, the bulk of the stock was sold to stockholder Abraham Bitner, who had donated the land for the factory. Only a few thousand watches had been produced, and once again new investors supplied capital to form the Keystone Standard Watch Co.

1892 - 1969

The Hamilton Co was incorporated in 1892 from the remnants of the Adams & Perry, Lancaster, Keystone, and Aurora companies, named for the Scottish attorney who founded the Pennsylvania town of Lancaster, where the original factory was located. Widely recognized as the benchmark for accuracy standards, Hamilton claimed over 50% of the market during the railroad era, producing some 4 million pocket watches, as well as chronometers for the US Navy. After purchasing the Illinois Watch Co in 1928 the company concentrated on the growing wristwatch trend, making their first battery-powered model in 1957. Hamilton paired with the Japanese firm of Ricoh in 1962 and then the Swiss Buren in 1966 before closing its US factory in 1969 and moving to Switzerland.

Combining the origins of both the Mozart Watch and New York Watch companies, Hampden was officially named in 1877 in Springfield, Massachusetts. A decade later case manufacturer John C Dueber bought a majority interest in the company and moved it all to Canton, Ohio.

1867 - 1877

After relocating the business to Springfield, the operating capital was raised to $300,000 and James Gerry was hired away from the US Watch Co as superintendent. The factory burned in 1870, stalling work until it was rebuilt several months later. The company did well with their first full-plate design until the Panic of 1873, forcing them to cut workers until closing completely in 1875. Reorganizing as the New York Watch Manufacturing Co didn't help, and in 1877 the firm restructured again under new investors as the Hampden Watch Co.

The Illinois Watch Co started as the Springfield Co, surviving two name changes, one financial panic, and the death of two of its presidents to make 5 million watches in more named grades and private labels than any other brand.

 1885 - 1927

The venture grew steadily as the Illinois Watch Co under Jacob Bunn Sr until his death in 1891, when control passed to his eldest son Jacob Jr.  4-size ladies' watches were launched in 1896, the smallest available at the time. The Sangamo Electric Co was formed in 1899 as a subsidiary of Illinois to make electric utility meters using Ludwig Gutmann's design. In 1903 the company made the decision to produce only higher-grade watches, including the popular Bunn Special and Sangamo lines, and the factory made limited amounts of 26-jewel variants, the highest production count of any American company. At its peak the factory employed 1200 workers and produced roughly 5 million watches in more named grades than any other brand. The death of Jacob Bunn Jr in 1926 led to the sale of the factory to the Hamilton Watch Co the following year, which kept making Illinois-brand watches until 1932. 

The United States Watch Co was organized by F A Giles and William Wales, jewelers in New York City. Although staked by a startup investment of $500,000, the venture did not last long.

1872 - 1874

Despite the large increase in capital stock to the then unheard-of price of $1,000,000 in 1868, the company ran short of funds a few years later. The venture re-organized as the Marion Watch Co to mirror the Marion Building Co, the parallel real-estate firm that owned the property, but sales didn't pick up and the mortgage was sold in 1874. The machines and tooling were sold to Auburndale, Independent, and others.

The Waltham Watch Co traced its roots back to 1850 with three Massachusetts businessmen who would apply Honoré Blanc's  method of gunsmithing in the late 1700s to the American cottage industry of watchmaking - the concept of interchangeable parts.

1850 - 1851

 With Boston investor Samuel Curtis backing the venture with $20,000 in blind faith, a small factory was built across the street from Howard's shop in Roxbury and the name American Horologe was chosen, though Dennison would deny that in later years. In the summer of 1850 the first watch was completed, a larger 8-day piece, which was deemed impractical, and after making fewer than twenty for those involved with the firm the design was scrapped in favor of an 18-size 30-hour movement, which would become the standard. 

1853 - 1857

Growing cramped in the small factory, Dennison found a new location on Crescent Street in Waltham, Massachusetts, ten miles from Boston. Investors formed the Waltham Improvement Co to fund the new factory, which was completed in 1854. The first watches made by the new Boston Watch Co were named for Dennison, Howard & Davis, but sales were slow, the machines kept breaking down, and the country was in a recession, so the business was put up for auction in the spring of 1857.

 1857 - 1859 

 Theodore Baker, with a factory of his own to run, quickly sold his interest to James Appleton to form the Appleton, Tracy & Co, with Robbins staying on as treasurer. Ambrose Webster was the first mechanic hired, inventing the automated machines that would transform the factory, who would eventually leave to establish the American Watch Tool Co. The Model 57 was launched, their first major model and the platform for many grades, starting at SN 5001. In 1859 the business was joined with the real-estate holding firm Waltham Improvement Co to found the American Watch Co.

1859 - 1885

With control firmly in the hands of Dennison and Robbins the capital was raised to $300,000 with a dividend of 5% paid to the stockholders. At the outbreak of the Civil War production ground to a halt, forcing the company to operate with a skeleton crew, but demand picked up with armies on the move and by 1865 the stock had increased to $750,000. The next decade saw rapid growth with the expansion of the nation's railroads, and the factory was greatly improved and enlarged, which would become the largest building in the world for the next fifty years.

1923 - 1957

The name was briefly changed to the Waltham Watch & Clock Co and then back to Waltham Watch in 1925, becoming a classic example of a good company ruined by bad management. In 1941 the company was investigated by the Department of Commerce, and by the end of World War II was $4,000,000 in debt, unable to pay the workers. Bankruptcy was delayed by a federal bailout, but in 1950 the factory closed, only to re-open from demand caused by the Korean conflict. Several attempts were made to restart the factory, but the end came in 1958, though the Waltham name would be trademarked and future spin-offs created.

 1901 - 1903

Ten years after the Cheshire Co failed, Orpheus E Bell established the Remington Watch Co and transferred Cheshire's machinery to the new factory in Appleton, Wisconsin. Despite the Remington name, watches were produced with Appleton on the movements, which was leftover Cheshire stock. After making some 3,000 watches the business failed, and O E Bell moved the equipment to Lima, Ohio to start over.

1905 - 1913

Archibald Bannatyne was master mechanic at the Waterbury Clock Co, which was incorporated in 1857 by Benedict & Burnham, the nation's largest brass supplier. Bannatyne is believed to be the inventor of the "Jumbo" dollar watch, made by Waterbury for the Ingersoll Watch Co. Bannatyne organized his own company with $100,000 from investors and began producing his own version of the Jumbo for $1.50 before going bankrupt and bought by clockmaker E Ingraham & Co.

1876 - 1877

 After the death of Cornell Watch Co president William C Ralston the California Co was formed with $250,000 and a new factory was built in Berkeley. Cornell's machinery was transferred but management was unsure if new machines were worth the cost. They evidently decided to do nothing and the business closed, selling the old equipment to the Independent Watch Co of New York. The remaining unfinished watches went to Albert Troller, the superintendent of the Rockford Watch Co. 

1898

There are two stories about Columbia. One is that the Waltham Watch Co claimed it never existed, and in 1898 brought suit against E A Locke, alleging that Locke bought cheap Columbia-grade watches from the Waterbury Watch Co, inscribed "of  Waltham" on them and then sold them at a higher price. The other is that Locke left his job at Waterbury to make 0-size watches in his own shop in 1896 and turned the work over to his son-in-law after the lawsuit, who renamed it the Suffolk Co.

1920 - 1925

Canadian William Dudley worked for Waltham, Illinois, South Bend, and Hamilton in his long career, where he was superintendent. He developed an early interest in Freemasonry and was a member of several Orders, so at 69 he retired from Hamilton to open his own shop to make watches replete with Masonic symbols. Sales slowed after only a few thousand watches were made and a bankruptcy was filed. Dudley had invested everything and so went back to Hamilton, working until the age of 80.

1851 - 1878

German-born Charles Fasoldt emigrated to America around 1851 and opened a small shop in Rome, New York. He was a mechanical genius who experimented with many designs, but was most famous for his coaxial escape and the "duo-in-uno" hairspring. It was said that no two of his hand-made watches were alike, and after making roughly 50 pieces he moved to Albany in 1861, where he produced some 300 more while dabbling in chronometers and microscopes.

1884 - 1885

The Fredonia Watch Co of New York lasted only a year after the name change from the Independent Watch Co, still owned by the Howard Bros and now marketing a grade named for and endorsed by Mark Twain. Sales continued to slip and J C Adams was recruited to help sell the remaining movements and broker a deal to offer the business and equipment to the Peoria Watch Co in Illinois.

1809 - 1872 

The Goddard Co spanned some 60 years through four generations, starting in 1817 when clockmaker Luther Goddard began making verge watches one at a time with his son Daniel in Worcester, Massachusetts, until Luther's retirement in 1825. The business continued through the Civil War under Daniel's grandson, producing roughly 500 watches total.

1882 - 1921

Robert H Ingersoll and younger brother Charles began as a New York mail-order business, selling watches made by the Waterbury Clock Co. The Ingersoll Yankee was invented in 1896, a cheap watch with a paper dial and stamped parts, selling 40 million of them at a dollar apiece. After buying the Trenton Co in 1908 and the New England Co in 1914 the company went bankrupt in 1921. It was bought by Waterbury, who introduced the famous Mickey Mouse wristwatch in the 1930s.

1883 - 1891

The Manhattan Co produced factory-cased watches with a sweep center hand in both open-face and hunter. Organized in 1883 with $100,000, a factory building was rented in New York City to produce roughly 150,000 watches before sales fell and the company failed.

1866 - 1868

The stockholders of the Tremont Watch Co changed the name to match the Massachusettes town of Melrose, bought an existing building and transferred the tools and machinery. All unfinished movements were completed using the new Melrose name. Aaron Dennison's prophecy of failure came true when funds ran out and the company folded in 1868, and the equipment was sold to the English Watch Co of Great Britain. 

1863 - 1870

After leaving the Boston Watch Co, Napoleon Sherwood partnered with New York investor Louis Fellows and began making watch machinery.  Sherwood left when his wife died and was replaced by Art Wadsworth, who designed the movements in a rented shop in Newark, New Jersey. After six years they had produced only 3,000 watches, so the business was sold to Paul Cornell, a real-estate agent in Chicago for $125,000. 

1883 - 1886

Patent-holder W E Doolittle organized the New Haven Watch Co of Connecticut with $100,000 in 1883, renting a two-story brick factory early the following year. Work commenced on building the machines, but the initial movement design was soon dropped in favor of a more traditional one. Funding ran low and Director J H Brewer traveled to nearby Trenton, New Jersey in hopes of attracting investors. Capital was raised, new officers elected, and the business was moved in 1886.

1887 - 1910

 The Non-Magnetic Watch Co had offices in Geneva and New York, fitting Swiss movements with Charles-Auguste Paillard's patented alloy hairspring, which worked so well that it was endorsed by Thomas Alva Edison himself. In early 1888 the Non-Magnetic Watch Co of America was formed with $500,000 and bought the American half of the Geneva operation, selling watches made by the Peoria Watch Co. The venture went bankrupt in 1890 and was reorganized several times under Alfred Smith as the Paillard Co, Non-Magnetic Co and AC Smith Co until 1910.

1889 - 1891

Investors from San Diego built a factory in Otay, California but soon ran out of funds. Local businessman Frank Kimball paid for the machinery and production commenced with the first watches named for Kimball, who was made general manager. Sales were so low that some of the tools were sold to pay the workers, and the business failed with some 1,200 watches produced. The remaining equipment was claimed by Kimball.

1868 - 1886

Eugene Paulus organized the company based on "intelligent thinking and American machinery", but imported Swiss-made parts anyway and had them finished in their small Philadelphia shop at 714 Chestnut St. In 1870 the Jacott brothers, serving as the company's secretary and treasurer, embezzled several thousand dollars and fled the country. Paulus was awarded at least two patents before starting his company, which made roughly 12,000 high-grade pieces before going bankrupt.

1871 - 1872

The Rock Island Watch Co of Illinois was comprised of stockholders who purchased the Mozart Watch Co and built a factory in the nearby town of Milan. After the equipment was moved, those same investors decided to renege on what was owed the Mozart Co and the venture failed without having produced any watches.

1891

After the failure of the Otay Co several of the same investors tried again in another building erected in nearby Alviso, California. The equipment was purchased back from Frank Kimball and work started in the spring of 1891. Fewer than a dozen watches had been produced before legal suit was brought by one of the original Otay investors.  Unable to pay, the company closed in December, again leaving Kimball with very little.

1882 - 1885

Josiah P Stevens, a jeweler in Atlanta, Georgia, had for years bought movements from the Hampden Co and finished them in his shop after adding his own patent regulator. In 1882 he bought machinery offered to him by Ezra Bowman and found investors willing to build a factory, retaining W Todd as superintendent from Bowman. In 1885 the largest shareholder, J C Freeman, died, leaving his heirs to fight over the will and form the new Freeman Co. Stevens sold his interest to this new venture, which failed in 1887.

1864 - 1866 

After leaving American Waltham, Aaron Dennison went to Boston to partner with A O Bigelow and raise funds for the new Tremont Watch Co in Massachusetts. He was named superintendent and traveled to Zurich to secure a parts source for the new venture. Dennison left the outfit in 1866 when the stockholders decided to move the business to Melrose and attempt to manufacture the entire watch here in America.

1878 - 1898

 The Waterbury Co formed around the idea for a low-cost watch and D Azro Buck's "long-wind" design, which required fewer than 60 parts. The factory was built in Waterbury, Connecticut and the tooling was provided by Charles Benedict of Benedict & Burnham Mfg, the nation's largest producer of brass. By the mid-1880s the company employed 300 people and was producing 1,500 watches a day, and in 1898 the firm was renamed the New England Watch Co.

1887 - 1888

The Wichita Watch Co was organized with a start-up capital of $250,000 in Wichita, Kansas. A new factory was constructed to turn out 18-size movements, but after only a few watches were produced the business failed the following year in 1888. Total production is not known, nor is it certain where the watchmaking machinery came from or ended up.