Re: Late lamented American watches

Alex W. wrote:
"Moka Java" <rtwatches@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:5b5ilsF2rgrjtU1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


Because it was much easier to chock the plates up in a rose engine and knock out a few dozen a day. Post Civil War American watchmakers weren't looking for labor intensive, they wanted to automate and mechanize as much as possible. Truly skilled labor was a real problem for the relatively new American watch industry. 1860 - 1930 saw tremendous economic upheaval as the US moved from agrarian to industrial. While labor costs might have been low compared to today, labor was still a cost. Most of the early American watch companies didn't survive long. Just page through the first half of your Shugart's Price Guide to get a taste of what was going on.

I'm not certain that this low survival rate has much to do with the cost of labour in the watch industry.

There were many factors and certainly the watch industry wasn't the only one affected. The stock market crash of 1927 and ensuing depression wasn't the first economic disaster to hit the industrial age. There were numerous bank failures and depressions prior to 1927. Certainly the watch industry wasn't unique in the shake out. Watches and guns, however, were the first items to be mass produced with interchangeable parts. I don't know beans about guns but prior to the 1860s watches were made in batches and hand fit together. That was the beginning of the industrial age. machines cut the decorations in to American watch movements and cases.

The same die-off can be observed in other
industries, from early car manufacturing to dotcom firms.

I don't know that the dot.com bubble is an apt comparison.



The English were the originators of the highly decorated watch movement. The pierced cocks and scrolled columns of some 18th century English verge watches are incredible. By comparison, the contemporary continental watches were relatively plain. The English toned down the decorations through the 19th century. I've never seen a 19th century Swiss watch that had anything more than a good functional finish. Geneva stripes and pearlage started to come into popularity in the 1890s.

The operative word being "some".

Actually, every 18th century English verge watch I have ever seen has been highly decorated.

On the whole, French and German watches
were every bit as decorative as English timepieces.

On the whole? No. The watches you provide links to are exceptional. They are not your standard issue continental verge fussees.

Indeed, if you include
cases, they tended to be rather more elaborate, to the point of being gaudy.

The French did enamel work, the English did under painted horn and ray skin.

Below are a few examples from a recent auction; with the exception of the last one they are all fairly ordinary pieces, and they are every bit as decoratively appealing as a Tompion or Graham.

http://www.uhren-muser.de/img.php3?289&filter=

http://www.uhren-muser.de/img.php3?303&filter=

http://www.uhren-muser.de/img.php3?285&filter=

http://www.uhren-muser.de/img.php3?288&filter=

http://www.uhren-muser.de/img.php3?428&filter=



Thanks you for posting these links. Again, theres are exceptional watches. Most continental verge movements looks like this:

http://www.uhren-muser.de/img.php3?291&filter=

R "thanks, I had a lot of fun scrolling through that auction catalog!" TF
.

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