Waltham Pocket Watch
In its century and a half of existence, the Waltham Pocket Watch company had more names than Sean Combs/Diddy. But during that time they made some very fine timekeeping instruments.
The original business plan included mass production of moving parts that were so precisely made they would be fully interchangeable. It took a while, but they did it. By 1851, the company was named the American Horologe Company or the Warren Manufacturing Company, depending on the source, but the word "watch" was purposely not included to preserve a sense of mystery around the company.
In 1852, the first watches came off the assembly line. The first 17 were designed to run for eight days. Production runs were given different names. The models marked "Fellows & Schell" sold for $40, which would be equivalent to just over $1,000 in 2008 dollars.
The company was renamed Boston Watch Co. in 1853 and occupied a factory in Waltham, Massachusetts. However, within a few years it went bankrupt and was sold to an investor who renamed it Appleton Tracy & Co. in 1857. That was a banner year for the company because the 1857 models that were designated "Waltham Model 1857" was the first American pocket watch produced from standardized parts.
In 1858, Appleton, Tracy & Co. merged with Waltham Improvement Co. to form American Watch Co. After the Gettysburg Address, they gave a Model 1857 watch to President Lincoln.
After the Civil War, the company hit its stride, becoming one of the main suppliers of Railroad chronometers, and with new machining and technology, they were able to mass produce very accurate mechanical time pieces.
In 1885, the name changed again to American Waltham Watch Co., a name that stuck for 32 years. Under this name, the company produced some of the best pocket watches in the world. Though Waltham went out of business in America in 1957, its Swiss Subsidiary, Waltham International SA continues to make mechanical watches and is a member of the very prestigious Federation of the Swiss watch Industry FH.
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