A tour of earlier American watch companies part 1! Elgin, Hampden, American and New York watch companies.

When you first start collecting, what do you collect? What era of watch production? How do you know what you like?  American? English? Swiss? 

These questions prompted me to start looking into many different companies to find out just what is out there!  

Right off the bat I loved American watches from before the turn of the century.  Many different watch companies trying to find their way in a market full of competition.  

While the Elgin National Watch Company will always be #1 in the collection, the subject of this thread also led me to Hampden and the New York Watch Company.  These companies all have vast areas of unexplored content that make for incredibly interesting and fun research!   

I'd like to share my experience with sampling various earlier watch companies with the hope that maybe someone will find interest in the subject. 

This sub-collection started out as just finding a nice mid-grade example from each conpany to dissect and explore, but morphed into finding a good private label instead.  The result is a bit of an eclectic mix, but that's the fun of it.  

Elgin National Watch Company

In 1864 a group of investers centered in chicago decided to start a watch company.  They settled on Elgin, Illinois and poached a group of employees from The American Watch Company to get the ball rolling.  The result was The National Watch Company, which came to dominate the watch industry and lasted over a century!  For much more in depth reading please check out Elgin.watch and the pocket watch database.  

By the early 1870s, the National Watch Company had a full line of watches in men's and women's sizes.  

These shots are from the 1874 Almanac.  You can see each grade with a few earlier exceptions that did not make it to 1874. 

This H.Z. Culver is estimated to be around 1871 or so.   It was my first early watch from the company, serial number 56827.  The H.Z. Culver is 15 jewels and quick train with a straight line lever escapement.  By 1874 when the above advertisement was printed, this grade could be had in key or stem wind, adjusted or unadjusted.  You can instantly tell the difference between the H.Z. Culver and the B.W. Raymond by the jewel settings.  The BWR has real screw down settings, and the HZC has faux settings.  

The newspaper clippings below are courtesy of https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov

This is from the Chicago Tribune, October 29, 1867.  Detailing the first grades ready for sale by the company.

This next advertisement is from a retailer in Millersburg Ohio.  September 15, 1870 Holmes County Republican.  You can see retail prices of the time.  The H.Z. Culver cost $37, in today's money that would be around $750!  (According to online inflation calculator)

My personal experience with the watch is that it was easy to service, keeps remarkable time, and is a joy to carry.  

I could go on an on about this company, but for the sake of this thread, it's time to move on! 

Hampden Watch Company

Hampden started in 1877 after a reorganization of the New York Watch Manufacturing Company.  With a ton of material left over from NYWCo and a vision for the future, the companies early watches are diverse and an interesting topic of study.  By 1880 the company had a full line up of key and stemwind 18s watches, two grades of 16s watch, and still selling earlier NYWCo movements as well.  

The first few years is a mix of quick and slow train movements, different parts and features but that was quickly ironed out into watches such as the one shown below.

This is a typical Hampden keywinder from the 1880s.  It is a grade 33, which is Gilt, 15 jewels and unadjusted.  Serial #149487 which puts it around 1880 (this is a very general idea of a date).   It was my first Hampden and I enjoyed it so much that it started my dive into NYWCo and Hampden.  It lives in a nicely engraved Dueber coin silver case that looks to be original to the movement.  

Below is an illustrated list of movement from the 1883 Hampden Price list of materials.  Courtesy of the Harvard Library.

By this time all of Hampdens regular production movements are quick train, with the exception of the "Springfield" grade.

John Dueber gained control of the company and moved it to Canton Ohio in the later 1880s.  Most of my focus is on the company while still in Springfield Mass.

American Watch Company (Waltham)

With roots stretching back in time before the civil war, the American watch company is a favorite among early watch collectors for their history, high grades and interesting designs.  A quick Google search will reveal hours of material on the start of the company, and I couldn't do it justice here with a few brief sentences.  

I feel like the the most iconic movement produced by the company is the model 1857.  This was my first American Watch Co, and only model 1857.  #388725    A private label for William Edwards of New York.  This watch is a "Waltham Watch Co" grade, which is 15 jewels and adjusted.  Second in the lineup only under the At&Co grade.

Im also a huge fan of the model 1870 Crescent St.  You can see an advertisement here for it, and some testimony from miners, and the Pennsylvania RR.

Here is #520256 

While I am partial to these two watches, my dream American watch co would be a model 68...  But that's another discussion topic for another time. 

New York Watch Company

The beginning of the New York Watch Company goes back to Providence Rhode Island In 1864 with the Mozart Watch Company.  D.J. Mozart tried to market a three wheel train watch, which did not turn a profit.  The company reorganized as NYWCo and moved to Springfield Massachusetts in late 1867.  The company struggled with problems. One such problem, a fire In 1870 destroyed much of the factory.

Iowa Voter, May 5th, 1970.  

Courtesy of https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov

They did quickly rebuild and continue operations.  

This is an excerpt describing a few of their early grades. These are 3/4 plate movements.  Courtesy of the Harvard library.

Here is John L. King #5408.  This poor fellow is still in line for restoration, but serves to show an early movement manufactured by the company.

My first New York watch was this private label.  #18516.  These full plate movements, refered to as the long balance cock style, began to appear in approx 1871.  This patent is the dust band used by New York and Hampden long and short balance cock movements. It was granted in 1871. 

This is a "Theo E. Studley" grade, which makes it 11 jewels with a cut bi-metallic balance wheel.  Movement marked for S. Smith, Altoona Pa.

I won't get into the NYWCo short balance cock movements here, because that is another whole area of research.  

The New York Watch Company struggled through 1873-5 because of the great panic.  They finally closed up shop in 1875 and reorganized as the "New York Watch Manufacturing Company". This did not even last a year before closing down again.  Finally in 1877 (reorganized as Hampden) the company found the success it deserved.