Antique and Vintage Pocket Watches
Mechanical Movements of the Cold War: How the Soviets Revolutionized Wristwatches
By Hunter Oatman-Stanford — Though it's hard to believe, there once was a time when workers in the Rust Belt were delighted to have their jobs—and themselves—shipped overseas. Shortly after the stock market crash of 1929, the Soviet Union purchased a bankrupt watch manufacturer in Ohio and moved the business halfway across the globe to Moscow, employees and all. The international maneuver wasn't viewed as a competitive threat to American industry—after all, the company’s products were already outdated and the recently...
Jonathan Snellenburg Ticks off the History of Watches and Clocks
By Ben Marks — I grew up outside of Philadelphia. I didn’t have any particular interest in clocks or watches as a kid; that came after I started working at Christie’s East, where I ran the Jewelry and Silver Departments. When I arrived, I found watches basically sitting on my desk, so I began studying them, cataloging them, and doing watch sales. I don’t collect watches myself; I have more than enough clocks and watches that pass through my hands. It’s my own sort of virtual collection. I’m not an...
A Short History of the American Antique Pocket Watch
By Maribeth Keane — I got interested in clocks in 1967, and I started collecting watches fairly seriously in the early ‘80s. I ran out of room for clocks. Pocket watches are a little bit more manageable, and in some ways more interesting, too. I collect precision clocks, clocks that are very accurate timekeepers, and marine chronometers; things like that. I specialize in a few different specific types of pocket watches, but my principal interest is in the Waltham Watch Company, and even more specifically in...
Keeping Time with Waltham, Hamilton, and Illinois Pocket Watches
By Maribeth Keane — I got started collecting pocket watches partly because I hated wearing wristwatches; I used to carry my wristwatch in my pocket, so I thought; why not just try getting a pocket watch. I happened to find one at an antique flea market. I was impressed by it, over a hundred years old and still running. A couple months later I saw another very nice antique pocket watch with a pretty dial on it, and I thought, I’m not collecting or anything, but I’ll have two. Pretty soon they just started...