Revolutionising Time: The Pioneering Age of American Watchmaking and its Impact on Our Wrist Today

In the early eras of watchmaking, a pocket watch was considered an extravagant item. Birthed in the early 16th century in Germany (Nuremberg eggs), these delights were onerous handmade wonders, known for their distinguishable components and less reliable accuracy. Due to the demanding and intricate nature of production, it often took up to a year to produce one, making it arguably the most luxurious possession one could own prior to the 1850s.

Dennison was not the first American to explore the possibility of mechanising watch production. Brothers Henry and James Pitkin had earlier developed rudimentary watchmaking machinery. By 1845, around 900 watches, all with interchangeable components, had been produced by this machinery. However, it was Dennison’s vision that truly changed the game. Teaming up with clockmaker Edward Howard, he successfully established a manufacturing facility in Roxbury (Boston, Massachusetts), significantly ramping up watch production. By 1852, they had churned out 5,000 mass-produced 30-hour watches.

The company – known then as the Warren Manufacturing Company - went on to move to Waltham, Massachusetts in 1854 and rename itself the Waltham Watch Company. However, the road to success wasn’t smooth. The company faced significant obstacles, including economic downturns, rising production costs due to machine development, and even bankruptcy in 1857. It saw a resurgence during the American Civil War, when the demand for affordable watches surged among soldiers. The William Ellery watch, sold for a reasonable $13 (equivalent to around $500 today), became a hit and accounted for 45% of sales by the end of the war.