The flat steel room at the Hampden watch factory Donald J. Mozart produced his three-wheel watch in 1864, and with the assistance of Samuel Rice formed the New York Watch Company in 1866 in Providence, Rhode Island. It was moved to Springfield, Massachusetts in 1867 and two grades of watches were produced. The company started with an 18s 3/4 plate model signed 'Springfield.'

And a 16s 3/4 plate 'State Street' model that featured steel parts and gold-plated balance and escape wheels. The company became the Hampden Watch Company in 1877. Dueber-Hampden Advertisement John C. Dueber had been manufacturing watch cases since 1864 and bought controlling interest in a case company in about 1886.

What may be happening is you might be looking at the serial number on your case. Dueber-Hampden did not track serial numbers on the cases. The best thing. Hampden (Dueber) Watch Company Production Dates by Serial Number Table. Sep 11, 2005 The Dueber Watch Case. Since HenryB is correct in that we can't do much with Dueber case serial numbers. Dueber watch case #9738245: American Pocket.

Syntheyes 2014 Torrent. At about this time an anti-trust law was passed and the watch case manufacturers formed a boycott against Dueber. In order to remain in business, Dueber bought the Hampden Watch Co.

In Springfield in 1888, then moved it to Canton. By 1890, the company was producing 600 watches a day, had 1000 employees, and possessed net assets of $2,600,000. Hampden produced some very fine quality watches, and introduced the first 16 size, 23 jewel movement made in America. Dueber controlled all aspects of the company from manufacturing to sales. Dueber sold the company to Walter Vrettman in 1925. Vrettman went bankrupt in 1927 and sold all of the company's equipment to Amtorg, a Russian purchasing company.

Nearly 30 boxcars of machinery left Canton in 1931 with 21 former Dueber Hampden employees who contracted for one year to teach the Russians the craft of watchmaking. Conflicting information exists about the fate of the Russian enterprise, but Henry Fried, a horology professor at New York University, reported seeing Dueber-Hampden machinery being used in China in 1986.

Hampden / Dueber Watch Company Hampden Watch Serial Numbers and Production Dates Total Production: Approx. Be sure to use the serial number on the movement (the works) of the watch. Do not use the serial number from the watch case.

Can’t find your serial number in the table? For an explanation and example of how to use our serial number tables. Need help finding the serial number on your watch? For instructions on how to identify and open most common case types.

At Renaissance Watch Repair, we are experts in the repair and restoration of Dueber and Hampden watches. Please if you have any questions about the repair of your vintage Hampden watch.

The l ast blog I mentioned corre sponding with Mr. Donald Berger, formally of Massillon, Ohio, and now living in Philadelphia, PA. My acquaintance with Mr.

Berger began when he contacted me about his grandfather's watch. The photograph (above) shows the Cigar Makers' Union. Donald Berger's grandfather, George Herrmann Berger is seated on the left side. Of his four siblings and mother, who migrated to America from Amsterdam in 1882, only George remained in Massillon. It is believed he began work at the Sailer Cigar Factory when he was 15-years-old. His wife, Eva Louis Masson, came to America from Franche-Comte (eastern France). By the time Donald was growing up the cigar business was nearly finished, but his grandfather kept a shed on the side of the house where he rolled his own cigars.

Berger said he had no recollections about his grandfather's watch, he did say he has tried to keep it running. Without seeing the watch, my watch collectors were able to tell a little more about the watch based on the works serial number.

Berger and I were able to learn the year his watch was made. What we learned about Mr. Berger's watch are the same characteristics you can learn about your own watch. Thanks to Robert 'Bob' Arnold of Flint, Michigan, if you own a Dueber-Hampden watch you can learn a lot with just the serial number. Bob has spent more than 20 years collecting, cataloguing, and looking at Dueber-Hampdens. Arnold, a retired engineer working for the automobile industry, has put close to 11,000 serial numbers into the book, Hampden Watch Co. The book contains an extensive list of serial numbers that will help identify the model of your watch, setting, style, construction, and description.

It is rumored that when Dueber-Hampden Watch Works closed its doors and shipped the remainder of its plant to Moscow, that paperwork containing the serial numbers of the Dueber-Hampden watches was taken south to Waynesburg, Ohio and burnt. It is interesting to note the fact that Cunard shipping authorities were able to identify a body of a passenger washed ashore on the coast of Ireland in October 1915. This passenger was aboard the Lusitania when it had been torpedoed on May 7, 1915.