Vintage Thingies Thursday: Watches

WOO! HOO! It's Vintage Thingies Thursday over at ColoradoLady! Be sure to stop in and see the treasures everyone is sharing this week. I have two vintage pocket watches from my dad. One was his father's, but he's not sure where the other came from. They don't work anymore, and they're made of nickel instead of silver with engravings or anything, but of course they're valuable to me because they're family heirlooms. The style is called "open front" because there is not cover for the face. Too bad; I always like the idea of clicking a pocket watch open and closed, don't you?

I love that the minutes are broken down next to their hourly counterparts on the bottom photo, and I always enjoy watches that have the separate second hand dial. Of these two watches, the bottom appears to be older based on advertisements I've seen, and the fact that it doesn't have the Radiolite hands, the first luminous watch hands. Radiolites were not manufactured until after WWI.

I did a little research and found out that these are Ingersoll pocket watches. In 1892 Robert and Charles Ingersoll began manufacturing inexpensive pocket watches in New York City, with parts purchased from the Waterbury Clock Company in Connecticut. These watches were not the same as more expensive makes of the era. They did not use jewels in their mechanisms, instead they used the "pin lever" method. Instead of a jewel being used as a bearing, a hole was drilled directly into the pocket watch plate and a pin attached to the gear sat inside the hole. This was a simple and effective way to drastically reduce costs. Oiling was very important to reduce wear on the metal-to-metal contact surfaces, and the movements did eventually wear. But the goal was achieved - make a watch affordable for the everyday worker.

Geared for the "every man" the "Dollar Watch" became known the world over, and was even mentioned by President Teddy Roosevelt in a speech he gave on a hunting trip to Africa! "Everyman" would certainly describe my heritage! The watches were made of nickel, and were known for their accuracy and reliability. They were so popular that by the mid 1890s over one million had been sold! Neither of my watches is an actual "Dollar Watch" they would have been sold for about two or three dollars each. Today they are being sold for $2.00-$20.00 depending on the condition.

After a series of bankruptcy problems and several sales, by 1930 Ingersoll was a wholly British-owned company. The US branch of the company was named United States Time Corporation (now Timex Group USA), and continued producing the Ingersoll brand until the 1950s.

During the Depression, Ingersoll was saved from a second bankruptcy when they manufactured the first Mickey Mouse watch and obtained exclusive rights to all Disney characters. If you're interested, there's one for sale right now on eBay and includes a watch fob. It's only $999.99, but shipping is free; what a bargain!
Even though Ingersoll watches are not particularly valuable, they are considered highly collectible, they are a little piece of American history, and in my case a little bit of my family history.
For more nifty things and interesting stories be sure to visit the Vintage Thingies Thursday participants listed at ColoradoLady!