Illinois Watch Company Movement Cuts, 1890 Lapp & Flershem Catalog (Busiest House In America) Original catalogs are an invaluable primary source for understanding movement descriptions. Examining these resources can yield crucial insights into production tendencies, grade attributes, and pricing trends. These catalogs often form the foundation for information that modern collectors rely on when company documentation is scarce or unavailable. Illinois Watch Company Movement Grade Descriptions, 1890 Lapp & Flershem Catalog (Busiest House In America) The 1890 edition of “The Busiest House in America” catalog, published by Lapp & Flershem, showcases the primary movements offered by the Illinois Watch Company at the time... Continue Reading

by Nathan Moore, 13 hours ago

Rockford Watch Co. "I Can Fix A Rockford Watch" Trade Card, c.1890 (Front) This colorful trade card was distributed by the Rockford Watch Company in the 1890s to promote the company's "Quick Train" watch movements and ease of repair. The scene exhibits a young child working on a Rockford 18-Size Model 7 watch movement. The caption below the illustration reads,"I Can Fix a Rockford Watch." The reverse features a detailed engraving of a train and a watch dial marked "Railroad Watch." These small trade cards were popular for promoting products and frequently provided a dedicated area for retailers to stamp their business names and locations... Continue Reading

by Nathan Moore, 5 days ago

1904 Seth Thomas Watch Material Catalog Cover The 1904 Seth Thomas Watch Material Catalog is the most fundamental resource for understanding, classifying, and studying the watch movements manufactured at the Seth Thomas factory. The company distributed this catalog in October 1904, featuring a pivotal serial list that provides model correlations for movements through number 795,250 and a couple of reserved blocks from 900,001 to 1,000,000. While grade designations are not provided in this list, it has become a building block for reconstructing a serial database and interactive lookup engine for Seth Thomas watch production. This catalog was previously reproduced in Chris H... Continue Reading

by Nathan Moore, 2 weeks ago