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“History and practice of precision watchmaking at the Hamilton factory in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.”
NEW VERSION with improved video & sound:
Public domain film from the Library of Congress Prelinger Archive, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and mild video noise reduction applied.
The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original).
The Hamilton Watch Company was originally formed to produce high quality pocket watches and wristwatches, from mid-range to luxury. Hamilton would become a corporate conglomerate diversified in other operations. The Hamilton brand name still exists in name as a division of a major Swiss assembler of production grade mechanical and quartz wristwatches…
History of Hamilton America: 1892–1969
The Hamilton Watch Company was established in 1892 when the Keystone Standard Watch Company was forced into bankruptcy and sold at a sheriff’s sale to a group of Lancaster, Pennsylvania entrepreneurs whose “objective was to build only watches of the highest quality.” During this same year, a merger took place between the newly established Lancaster based watchmaking concern and the Aurora Watch Company of Illinois. A decision was made to name the new company after James Hamilton, owner of a large tract of land which was granted to him from William Penn and included what is now the city of Lancaster. The new company would be known as The Hamilton Watch Company.
Hamilton Watch Company was housed on a 13-acre (53,000 m2) complex in Lancaster. Hamilton eventually took possession of Aurora Watch Company’s machinery shortly after incorporation. With quality being Hamilton’s primary goal, the company set out to manufacture “America’s Finest Watch.” The first watch made under the Hamilton name was an 18-size 17-jewel pocket watch in 1893. Within the next six years, Hamilton had developed a reputation for creating pocket watches of the highest caliber of quality. During Hamilton’s first fifteen years, only two size movements were produced — the 18-size and the smaller 16-size.
Its first series of pocket watches, the Broadway Limited, was known as the “Watch of Railroad Accuracy,” and Hamilton became popular by making accurate railroad watches. Hamilton introduced its first wristwatch in 1917. This watch was designed to appeal to men entering World War I and contained the 0-sized 17-jewel 983 movement originally designed for women’s pendent watches. The introduction of the 0-sized wristwatch was the start of a line of wristwatches that included some of the finest American wristwatches made. In 1928 Hamilton purchased the Illinois Watch Company for in excess of $5 Million from the heirs of Jacob Bunn and John Whitfield Bunn. Some of the most collectible early Hamilton wristwatches include The Oval, The Tonneau, The Rectangular, The Square Enamel, The Coronado, The Piping Rock, The Spur, The Glendale, The Pinehurst, The Langley, The Byrd, The Cambridge, the Barrel “B” and The Flintridge. Many models came in both solid gold and gold filled cases and, though rare, some wristwatches such as the Grant were made of silver.
During World War II, production of consumer watches was stopped, with all watches manufactured being shipped to troops…
In 1957, Hamilton introduced the world’s first electric watch, the Hamilton Electric 500…
In 1966, Hamilton acquired the Buren Watch Company in Switzerland…
In 1969, the Hamilton Watch Company completely ceased its American manufacturing operations with the closure of its factory in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, shifting the entire balance of its manufacturing operations to the Buren factory in Switzerland…
In 1971, the Omega & Tissot Holding Company Société Suisse pour l’Industrie Horlogère (SSIH) purchased the Hamilton brand…
Through the enforced merger of SSIH and ASUAG Groups in 1984, Hamilton has become a subsidiary of the now denominated The Swatch Group Ltd….
