Longines’ World War Two Pilot’s Wristwatch
This Longines’ World War Two Pilot’s Wristwatch, with a Wheem’s aircraft navigational calculation bezel, is an early and quite rare Longines Aircraft Navigation watch. This […]
A Short History of the Wristwatch
The first fully portable timepieces began to appear in the early 1500s, but they were so inaccurate, they only needed one hand: for the hours. […]
Early 20th Century Prestige Watches
The early 20th century saw fierce competition among American watch companies. Every watch company in the country produced a “top of the line” watch, of […]
LeCoultre Atmospheric Perpetual Clock
For centuries, many scientists—including Leonardo da Vinci—had experimented with the idea of a Perpetual Motion mechanical devise. The energy to power such a devise is […]
Boston Watch Co. Dennison Howard and Davis
The early watch manufacturers didn’t do things consistently or exactly in series. The Boston Watch Company—the granddaddy of all American watch companies—is particularly annoying in […]
THE HAMILTON WATCH CO.
The Hamilton Watch Company came into existence in 1892. The name Hamilton was selected to honor Andrew Hamilton, original owner of the site of Lancaster. Hamilton was granted the land by William Penn’s heirs and is credited with founding the city of Lancaster with his son James.
Jacob Custer Watchmaker, Norristown, Pa.
Jacob D. Custer (1805-1872) is an important name in American horology, he is best known for his clocks which he made in Norristown, Pa. beginning in the early 1830s.
THE ELGIN NATIONAL WATCH CO.
Elgin National Watch Company was founded in 1864, right as the Civil War was coming to an end. The first watch Elgin made, an 18-sized B.W. Raymond railroad grade watch, was finished in 1867, and over the course of the next 100 years, it went on to produce about 60 million watches. Elgin produced its first wristwatch around 1910, leading most other American watch companies by many years.
THE WATCH THAT MADE THE DOLLAR FAMOUS
The Ingersoll Watch Company is famous for two things. In its early incarnation, it produced the ubiquitous “dollar watch,” and several decades later made the equally ubiquitous Mickey Mouse watch, which actually saved the then-financially shaky company.
THE ROLEX COSMOGRAPH
Amongst the various complications popular in contemporary wristwatches, the chronograph offers a most practical function in a broad spectrum of situations.