1918 Model 1908 Grade 645 Railroad Grade Pocket Watch

From breakthroughs at the time like the double jeweled barrel arbor to the beautiful damascening, this railroad grade, 21 jewel Waltham pocket watch is a stunning example of American ingenuity and engineering. This watch came to Chrono Collector filthy and not running. After a complete breakdown, cleaning, and lubrication with Swiss Moebius oils, the movement's amplitude runs strong within a few minutes per day! We chose to preserve what appears to be the original crystal, but for a nominal fee, we would be happy to procure and replace it for a buyer if preferred over the cloudy original.

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: 1908
Grade: 645
Est. Year Made: 1918
Size: 16
Configuration: Openface
Railroad Grade: Yes!

Serial Number: 19327396
Manufacturer: Fahys
Material: Gold Filled - 20yr
Engraving: Yes -- Hand Engraved Scene
Condition: Good -- Few Dings, Still Beautiful
Crystal Condition: Good -- Cloudy but Solid

Signing Name: Waltham
Dial Type: Double Sunk Enamel
Dial Style: Arabic Numerals Montgomery
Hand Color: Bright Blued Steel
Hand Style: Double Spade
Condition: Great -- Hairline Crack Left of 12

Serial Number: 22208671
Configuration: Openface
Finish: Nickel
Jewel Count: 21
Adjusted: 5 Positions
Setting Mechanism: Lever
Last Service: Dec 2021
--Basic Service Package ($175 Value)
Status: Running Strong
--Keeping Time Within a few Minutes per Day