Dennison Orphans

Aaron Dennison’s Orphan Watches
The Legacy of the Tremont
Watch Co. in Great Britain
Dennison’s Early Years in
Watchmaking
• Dennison, Howard and Davis partnership formed to
produce a machine made watch with interchangeable parts.
• The final iteration of this partnership was the Boston
Watch Co. which failed in 1857.
• After several stormy years working for R. E. Robbins,
Dennison was fired but eventually received a settlement.
He also retained his Waltham stock holding of $10,000
purchased in 1859 by mortgaging his furniture.
• He cashed his Waltham stock in for $62,500 at the time of
the Tremont launch to fund his participation in the venture.
In retrospect he might have been better advised to just keep
the stock and retire.
Tremont Watch Co. 1864 - 1869
• Dennison was selling American iron processing machinery to
manufacturers in Birmingham when he was approached by the
prominent Boston jeweler Bigelow and others about starting up a
new watch company
• Dennison accepted and persuaded them to invest in a scheme he
devised to rapidly bootstrap a watch manufacturing company.
– Escapements, trains and other high skill items would be made in Switzerland
using American production tooling and less expensive Swiss labor.
– Plates, barrels and other components would be made in Boston where
watches would be assembled and cased.
• The other investors were willing but not necessarily enthusiastic
about the Swiss agency which was located in Zurich.
Tremont Products
• The Tremont watch was a 15 jewel full plate watch with a distinctive wide
balance cock similar to products being produced in England (Coventry and
Birmingham) at that time.
• The watch had a chronometer balance and full jeweling to compete with
Waltham’s Appleton Tracy 1857 model and the new Elgin B. W.
Raymond at a price near the lowest grades from the two competitors.
– A ¾ plate model was also designed to compete with the Waltham
Nashua models.
– The first watches appeared on the market less than a year after startup.
• B. D. Bingham joined the company and introduced a patented dust band
that could be retrofitted to the existing 1857 model Waltham as well as the
new Tremont Model. The Tremont was advertised as a dustproof watch.
– Sales of Bingham patent dust bands to Waltham was a major source of
income.*
*Bob Howatt – Private communication
u-undersprung/o-oversprung
R reversing pinion
H Haseler’s patent click
EWCo cypher: cd-under dial, cb-balance cock, cc-case
Study Examples
Tremont Watch Co.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
1459 Tremont
1736 Tremont
2284 Tremont/Warren pat reg
5800 Tremont
6743 Tremont
31840 Melrose
31981 Melrose
Tremont in England
•
•
•
•
•
11021 No Marking (EWCo) mvt
11928 Sainsbury London (Tremont) o
London 1873 William Hammon (Cov)
14452 H. Samuel, Manchester, o
B’ham hm 1875 Thomas Wallen (Cov)
40627 ¾ Tremont Boston B’ham hm
1876 Alfred Gurney (Cov)
40694 ¾ (Tremont) James Hardy
Aberdeen, London hm 1876 Joseph
Walton (Lon)
English Watch Co.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
144709N H. Samuel, unmarked EWCo uRcd mvt
15850E WA Tyson Birmingham EWCo., ocbc
B’ham hm 1876 Robert Bragge
10046 Tremont London cc2 B’ham hm 1878
Robert Bragge
10047 (identical to 10046) Penny 5/165*
27715 George Reeves, Appleby uRH cdc2 B’ham
hm 1879 Robert Bragge mb.nawcc.org*
30830W Kendal & Dent Cheapside London RH
EWCo, cd mvt
70448N EWCo sig BB u SWLS Ni Penny 6/50*
71651L EWCo sig BB uRH mvt
89944 Kendall & Dent Cheapside London uR
(EWCo) B’ham hm 1887 K&D
90916W Kay, Jones & Co. Worcester EWCo,
uRH mvt
92335 EWCo sig BB u SWLS Ni (ibid 70448)
* Reported observation
Timeline of Production
Serial numbers and Hallmarks
15850
E
1876h
FP Tremont
FP Melrose
FP Anglo American
¾ Tremont
English Watch Co.
150
Anglo
1,000
Melrose
~15,000 Tremont
1868e
5800
1865e
1459
1864
Tremont
Watch Co
1868e
6743
1865e
1736
1866e
2284
14452
1875h
TW
1873h
11928 1874
English
1869e
Watch Co
31840
1871
Anglo American
Watch Co
1869e
31981
11021
40627
1876h
1886e
70448
10046 N
1878h
RB
8 year
gap
10047
1878h
RB
1888e
92335
89944
1887h
1887e
90916
40694
1876h
71651
L
N
14470
9
1875e
30830
W
Click on any watch
to see the example.
Click on this
at the target
to return
Tremont Boston
5800 15J Tremont
Watch Co. Boston
11021 9J No Signature
extra 0 inserted in sn could
be from final run of 1500
ordered not sold.
Minor variations in
early Tremont watches
include moving the
Fast/Slow marking
from The vertical edges
to the bottom of the
cock.
Early Tremonts
Dials are marked
either Tremont
watch Co. or
Tremont Watch Co.
Boston
A small number of both
the full and ¾ plate are
marked Washington St.
on the barrel bridge.
Warren’s patent
regulator is an early
spiral track disk
regulator similar to the
J. P. Stevens later patent.
Bingham’s dust band fits inside the plates of the
watch and can be applied and removed at will. The
small depression acts as the lock when the band is
sprung to uniform diameter.
Patent granted Feb. 4, 1868 about the time Tremont
was folding up.
Prior art was to fit the band to the outer edge of the
plates requiring a larger opening.
B. D. Bingham’s
Magic Dust Band
Melrose Watch Co
When the inmates run the asylum
• Dennison’s model of the Tremont Watch Co. depended on low
skill/low cost assembly operators in America and less expensive (than
American) skilled operators in Switzerland.
• Bingham staffed the American plant with skilled operators who were
paid twice Dennison’s estimated rate and were bored with the routine
assembly work
• The result was a watch of medium quality that was too expensive to
command market share and not interesting enough to excite the
market.
• The American sales force took the easy way out and claimed that they
needed a less expensive “All American” watch.
• The Melrose model/grade failed even more miserably than the
Tremont had done.
• Eleven jewel watches were introduced in addition to the plain jeweled
watches, but the game was over.
• The ¾ plate Tremont might have given the company enough product
range to be competitive, but it was too late.
Melrose Watch Co Products
15J Tremont on left and
11J Melrose on right.
A close inspection shows the
Melrose “jewel settings” are fake
circles engraved on the plate. Click
movements for under dial view.
Anglo-American Watch Co.
• When the American backers pulled out, Dennison tried to
dispose of the Tremont assets and held out the hope that he could
interest another group of investors in reviving the effort.
• He eventually connected with investors in Birmingham who, in
1871, formed the Anglo-American Watch Manufacturing
Company but did not offer Dennison an ownership position.
• A position as Superintendent was negotiated but never came to
pass. The company itself failed to produce products and in 1874
the name was changed to the English Watch Company, Ltd.
• Dennison owned the material from the defunct Tremont Watch
Co. which was a mix from the several flavors of Tremont and
Melrose as well as the higher grade ¾ plate Tremont model.
• It is possible that Dennison continued to have watches finished
for a period of time but since the bulk of the existing examples
have markings from the English Watch Co. He likely just sold
the material to raise start up capital for his watch case company.
Kelly Directory 1880
H. Sainsbury 11928
London 1873
Casemaker William
Hammon, Coventry
Only known
English finished
Tremont with hm
1872 – 1874.
Likely finished by
Anglo-American
Watch Co.
The English Watch Co.
• The English Watch Co was a manufacturer of machine
made watches on the American plan.
• As with other English machine watch manufacturers, in the
19th century, they did not offer items under their company
name but dealt almost exclusively in private label watches.
• An early customer was H. Samuel of Manchester who
owned a chain of jewelry stores and advertised themselves
as a watch manufacturer. (Which they were not.)
• Later they supplied the firm of Kendal & Dent who also
pretended to manufacture watches but sold machine made
watches of both English and Swiss manufacture as well as
an occasional higher grade Clerkenwell watch.
H. Samuel Manchester
14452E hm 1875 TW
English Watch Co. Tremont/Melrose 7J finished in Birmingham with
addition of cap. Over sprung as is standard Tremont. Note in under
dial view, the click and train pivots are identical to the Melrose.
Casemaker Thomas Wallen, King Street, Coventry.
Tremont Boston 40627 ¾ Plate
Finished in Birmingham hm 1876 AG
Standard ¾ plate Tremont
finished in Birmingham in
1876 by the English Watch
Co. Casemaker Alfred
Gurney, 4 Conway Buildings
Smithford Street, Coventry
James Hardy 40694
Aberdeen 1876
Tremont 3/4 plate
finished in England
by English Watch Co
as Private Label.
London hm 1876
casemaker Joseph
Walton, 28 Tyson St,
Clerkenwell
W & A Tyson 15850
Birmingham hm 1876
Standard Tremont/Melrose
finished by English Watch
Co. Cypher on Balance
Cock. Casemaker Robert
Bragge, Villa Hall, 45 Villa
St., Hockley, Birmingham
for the English Watch Co.
Tremont London 10046
by English Watch Co.
15J Tremont 10046 finished by English Watch Co. in English Watch Co. Robert Bragge
case hm 1878. SN 10047 with identical marking sold by David Penney Cat 5 lot 165
H. Samuel EWCo
mvt 114709N
EWCo Cypher
Second form of English
Watch Co. mvt with
undersprung balance,
reversing pinion and cap
Kendal & Dent 30830W
Cheapside London
English Watch Co. for Kendal &
Dent. EWCo Cypher under dial and
1st form Haseler’s patent. Train and
balance cock as in Tremont. ~15s
Kendal & Dent
89944
hm 1887
Cheapside
London
Late unmarked example of EWCo private label
using Tremont parts. Train, balance cock and
barrel bridge Tremont design or material.
Kay, Jones & Co
Worcester W90916
The English Watch Co.
continued to use design
elements and perhaps parts
from the Tremont/Dennison
material in their reversing
pinion watch calibers.
Click to Compate Sizes
Example of a small
caliber ~15s with an
individual or small
jeweler private label.
Haseler’s
Patent
English Watch Co. fully signed
Tremont style watches1880’s
Stem wind push set 18s Tremont style 18s caliber with
new form of Haseler’s patent click. Nickel OF case no
seconds bit. (Would show at 4:30)
13 size plain jeweled with new barrel
bridge design. Only the balance cock
and train remain from Tremont.
Timeline of Production
Serial numbers and Hallmarks
15850
E
1876h
FP Tremont
FP Melrose
FP Anglo American
¾ Tremont
English Watch Co.
150
Anglo
1,000
Melrose
~15,000 Tremont
1868e
5800
1865e
1459
1864
Tremont
Watch Co
1868e
6743
1865e
1736
1866e
2284
14452
1875h
TW
1873h
11928 1874
English
1869e
Watch Co
31840
1871
Anglo American
Watch Co
1869e
31981
11021
40627
1876h
1886e
70448
10046 N
1878h
RB
8 year
gap
10047
1878h
RB
1888e
92335
89944
1887h
1887e
90916
40694
1876h
71651
L
N
14470
9
1875e
30830
W
Click on any watch
to see the example.
Click on this
at the target
to return
Melrose vs. English Watch Co
Bolt spring and hinge added.
Sight holes omitted.
Click image to return
H. Samuel
EWCo Reversing Pinion
Movement Sizes
Kendal & Dent
Kay Jones & Co.
45.85 mm 18s
English Watch
Co. Ltd.
42.33 mm 15s
Click on pictures
to return
42.33 mm 15s
40.6 mm 13s
Melrose/Tremont Under Dial
Click image to return
15J Tremont
11J Melrose