1893 Model 1883 Appleton Tracy & Co. Grade Pocket Watch

Extra heavy solid coin silver cases are becoming exceedingly rare as scalpers look to scoop them up to, unfortunately, be melted down for the silver content. We offer this beautiful Waltham Model 1883 in its original factory coin silver case, and trust us when we say that it is quite heavy in more than the name! Blued screws, hairspring, and hands adorn a gilt movement and near-perfect dial. Surprisingly, this beauty needed very little regulation to pull it into a rate of within 1 minute per day. Don't miss this opportunity to add this rarity to your collection!

Around 1850, Roxbury Massachusetts, the collective plans to begin a watchmaking business of three men, David Davis, Mr. Howard, and Aaron Dennison would later become the American Waltham Watch Company. The business plan was to inexpensively manufacture watches of without losing quality, a plan that utilized a new concept at the time in watchmaking: interchangable parts.

Early watches were produced around 1850. They were actually marked "Howard, Davis & Dennison - Boston".

The new company struggled early on as it coped with higher then anticipated manufacturing costs. They also had problems making the interchangeable parts system actually work. Although in theory the parts should have been identical once produced, they found that each part was a little different from the next. The machines weren't exact. It took the company months to produce watches that were actually no better than those already on the market.

Howard would eventually perfect and patent his precision watch making machines and the company was almost ready for production. In 1851, with the factories complete, the American Horology Company was named. By 1852 the first watches were completed. The first 17 watches were marked "The Warren Mfg Co". Watches 18 through 100 were named "Warren Boston". The next 800 were named "Samuel Curtis". These early watches are extremely rare and very valuable.

The name was changed to "Boston Watch Company" in 1853. In 1854 a factory was buily in Waltham Mass. The watches that were made here (1001-5000) were named "Dennison, Howard, & Davis" as earlier stated, as well as "P.S.Batrlett", and "C.T. Parker". Boston Watch Company failed in 1857.

The company was sold at auction to Appleton Tracy & Co in May 1857. In January 1859 the Waltham Improvement Comany and Appleton, Tracy & Company merged to for the American Waltham Watch Company. By 1860 the country was in Civil War, and the company was in trouble again. Production ground to a halt. With a war going on, finding a market for their watches was becoming a seroius problem. The company decided to downsize to the lowest possible level to keep the factory open. It worked!

In 100 years of existence the factory produced 40 million jeweled watches, plus clocks, speedometers, compasses, time fuses for bombs and other precision instruments.

Waltham Watch company went out of bueinss in the late 1950''s-early 1960's, in 1957 they planned to merge into Waltham Precision Instrument Company which was completed March 1960. The shareholders of the old company received shares of the Waltham Precision Instrument Company and also received shares in a Waltham Watch Company. In the mid 60's the remaining assets were purchased by the Dextra Corporation which failed in 1983.

History Adapted From: http://www.thewatchguy.com

Manufacturer: Waltham
Location Made: Waltham, MA
Model: 1883
Grade: Appleton Tracy & Co
Est. Year Made: 1893
Size: 18s
Configuration: Openface

Serial Number: 150262
Manufacturer: Fahys
Model: Monarch
Type: Extra Heavy Double Openface
Material: Solid Coin Silver
Complete: Yes
Condition: Great
Crystal Condition: Very Good

Signing Name: American Waltham Watch Co.
Dial Type: Double Sunk Enamel
Dial Style: Roman Numerals
Hand Color: Bright Blued Steel
Hand Style: Morning Glory
Condition: Excellent

Serial Number: 6024825
Configuration: Openface
Finish: Gilt
Jewel Count: 15
Setting Mechanism: Pendant
Last Service: Jan 2021
-- Basic Service Package ($175 Value)
Status: Running Strong
-- Rate: Within 1min/day