WALTHAM 'PIONEER' LARGE 15 JEWEL POCKET WATCH

Offered for sale is a Waltham 'Pioneer' 1883 model, 18 size, fifteen jewel, stem wind and time set, gilded full plate movement made in the United States in 1888 - serial number 3,766,503 with porcelain 'Double sunk' dial, sub seconds at the six, Roman numerals and blued steel hands. The watch is housed in its original Waltham 'Coin Silver' swing-out hinged case with screw bezel, serial number: 6378. The whole package represents a really nice, period, timepiece that is in excellent original condition, whilst benefitting from being in full working order and keeping good time.

Movement: Waltham 18 size, 1883 model, stem wind and time set, fifteen jewels, safety pinion, adjusted, serial number: 3,766,503.

Case: Waltham 'Coin silver' swing-out hinged case with screw bezel, serial number: 6378.

Face: Porcelain dial with black Roman numerals, blued steel hands, mineral glass.

Mechanical watches make the ideal gift - classic appearance and no battery to fade or fail. They do, however, require cleaning and oiling from time to time by a competent watchmaker and although usually good timekeepers, a mechanical watch needs to be wound regularly and the time will occasionally need to be reset

The Waltham brand originated in Waltham, Massachusetts as a company dedicated to the production of the precision timepieces then being demanded by the expanding north american railroad companies as well as many other organisations, including the military. Little is known about the very early history of the company as America was in the process of emerging from a very bloody civil war but one of the founders was Aaron Lufkin Dennison, who later emigrated from America to the United Kingdom and founded the Dennison Watch Case Company in Birmingham. In 1885, the Waltham company was re-organised and renamed the American Waltham Watch Company and during the next three decades produced some of the finest pocket watches ever made. Abraham Lincoln owned an early example of a Waltham Watch and pieces from those pioneering days are now highly sought by collectors. By the end of the 19th Century, the company was exporting high quality watches all over the world and, in England, Waltham watches were specified by several railway companies including the London & South Western Railway. During the First and Second World Wars, Waltham provided military timepieces to allied forces (including the British Army and Royal Navy) and they continued to be a world leader in the production of precision railway timepieces until 1957 when to the main company ceased trading as a result of increased pressure from cheaper imports - particularly those from Switzerland. Nevertheless, two branches of the company still survive; a Swiss subsidiary (founded in 1954) still produces watches under the Waltham brand name and the Waltham Aircraft Clock Corporation still produces precision clocks and instruments in the USA. From recorded serial numbers, it is estimated that between 1852 and 1957, the company produced more than 33 million timepieces but the precision engineered pocket watches produced more than a hundred years ago are regarded as the most highly collectable.

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'NO QUIBBLE GUARANTEE'

We know that you will be pleased with this watch and we will back our confidence with a 'No Quibble Guarantee' that if you are unhappy with the item for any reason, you may return it to us and, provided we receive it safely back within ten days of purchase, we will refund the price paid in full.

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