First Run 1872 Model American Grade with Fitt's Patent setting
This is an 18 jewel model
1872 American Watch Co. grade movement produced in 1872. This watch marked the
high water mark for the American Watch Company in the minds of many collectors.
It was with this model that most of the international awards were won by the
American Watch Company in the 70's and 80's.
This example is from the first run of the American Grade with serial number 670,012. It uses the push setting mechanism that is combined with a number of different case mechanisms to provide the interesting series of setting mechanisms found on these watches. In this example it is a nail set lever with Fitch's Patent detent to hold the lever in the setting position. This model is also found with just the setting lever without the Fitch's mechanism and with a button setting mechanism that operates though the band of the case.
The case on this watch is an 18K American Watch Co. case. This watch is pictured in the Marion book by Muir & Krause in a button set case to illustrate that Waltham used a similar mechanism to the US Watch Company at Marion. The previous owner of the watch exchanged two very similar movements from the same serial number run to place the more attractive movement in the more interesting case.
Front, Front Case Mark, Back Case Mark Cuvette, Cuvette Mark, Dial, Setting, Movement, Movement Closeup
