How Old Is My Waltham Watch?

Due to the fact that I own a lot of Waltham pocket watches [i.e., watches made by the American Waltham Watch Company], I frequently get e-mail from people wanting to find out information about their own Waltham watch. Well, there's usually not much I can tell people without actually seeing the watch, but if someone knows the watch's serial number I can usually at least give them a good idea of how old it is.

Although watches were not always sold and delivered in the exact order they were manufactured, the following table will give you an approximate date for your Waltham watch based on its serial number.

[Note, by the way, that the serial number of a watch is inscribed directly on the watch's movement (a.k.a. the "guts", "works" or "inner mechanism") and has no relation to any serial number that might be inscribed on any part of the case. Watch companies typically just made the movements, and the cases were made separately by special watch case companies. The two were then often first joined together at the time of sale by the jeweler who would let the customer select the particular case to go with his watch.]

Serial Number Date | Serial Number Date | Serial Number Date
50
400
1,000
2,500
4,000
6,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
30,000
45,000
65,000
110,000
180,000
260,000
330,000
410,000
460,000
500,000
540,000
590,000
680,000
730,000
810,000
910,000
1,000,000
1,150,000
1,350,000
1,500,000
1,670,000
1,835,000
2,000,000
2,350,000
2,650,000
3,000,000
3,400,000
1852
1853
1854
1855
1856
1857
1858
1859
1860
1861
1862
1863
1864
1865
1866
1867
1868
1869
1870
1871
1872
1873
1874
1875
1876
1877
1878
1879
1880
1881
1882
1883
1884
1885
1886
1887
| 3,800,000
4,200,000
4,700,000
5,200,000
5,800,000
6,300,000
6,700,000
7,100,000
7,450,000
8,100,000
8,400,000
9,000,000
9,500,000
10,200,000
11,100,000
12,100,000
13,500,000
14,300,000
14,700,000
15,500,000
16,400,000
17,600,000
17,900,000
18,100,000
18,200,000
18,900,000
19,500,000
20,000,000
20,500,000
20,900,000
21,800,000
22,500,000
23,400,000
23,900,000
24,100,000
24,300,000
1888
1889
1890
1891
1892
1893
1894
1895
1896
1897
1898
1899
1900
1901
1902
1903
1904
1905
1906
1907
1908
1909
1910
1911
1912
1913
1914
1915
1916
1917
1918
1919
1920
1921
1922
1923
| 24,550,000
24,800,000
25,200,000
26,100,000
26,400,000
26,900,000
27,100,000
27,300,000
27,550,000
27,750,000
28,100,000
28,600,000
29,100,000
29,400,000
29,750,000
30,050,000
30,250,000
30,750,000
31,050,000
31,400,000
31,700,000
32,100,000
32,350,000
32,750,000
33,100,000
33,500,000
33,560,000
33,600,000
33,700,000
33,800,000
34,100,000
34,450,000
34,700,000
35,000,000
1924
1925
1926
1927
1928
1929
1930
1931
1932
1933
1934
1935
1936
1937
1938
1939
1940
1941
1942
1943
1944
1945
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957

[SOURCE: Shugart & Gilbert, Complete Price Guide to Watches, 1997]

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All text © 2000-2002 Barry S. Goldberg, Esq.


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