Expert: Melvin Mills - 10/22/2008

Question
Melvin, for historical research I'm doing, I need to talk to someone about the kinds of men's pocket watches guys were using in America in the year 1840 - - and how these watches fitted into the fashion in those days. Can you help or direct me to a watch expert/clothing expert/ historian who would know? Thanks, Jane.

Answer
At that time 1840 there were no mass producers of watches so watches were hand made and very expensive. Most were made in Europe. Luther Goddard worked 1809-1825 was an early American watch maker. Google him.

This date also puts you near the very earliest appearance of any machine made American watch, with the only pre-1840 examples being I believe the early work of Henry Pitkin. Only a small number of these were produced in this era so this definitely would not be your "typical" watch of the period.  

For a look at the beginnings of the American machine made watch, there are pics and info of a surviving example of an earliest Pitkin on Jon Hanson's American Horologe Company website at this link ...

http://americanhorologe.com/Pitkin.aspx

"Watches", by Clutton and Daniels has some high end Swiss, English and French (Breguet) examples from this time period. Some of these would have been available in the US.

That is the watch part of the equation.  I don't know about the fashion part, though.

Kind regards,

Melvin