Product Details

Beautifully engraved antique stock certificate from the Waltham Watch Company dating back to the mid 1900's. This document, which carries the printed signatures of the company President and Assistant Treasurer, was printed by the American Bank Note Company, and measures approximately 11 1/4" (w) by 7 3/4" (h).

This certificate features a nice vignette of an eagle atop a stopwatch.

Images

Historical Context

Aaron Dennison established Waltham Improvement Company (later to become Waltham Watch Company) in 1854. The factory became a major employer of Yankee Protestants offering higher wages and skilled work. In September of 1864 a visit was made by some Elgin Watch Company representatives to the Waltham Watch Company led to seven key Waltham people being lured away to work for the newly formed Elgin -- they were nicknamed the Seven Stars. The bait used was a $5,000 a year salary for 5 years, a $5,000 bonus and one acre of land on the company's, soon to be acquired, 35 acre site. Elgin got its comeuppance though, as several of these “Seven Stars” soon left them for other companies.

In 100 years of existence the factory produced 40 million jeweled watches, plus clocks, speedometers, compasses, time fuses for bombs and other precision instruments. This famous time piece manufacturer went out of business in 1957 when it was bought and converted to Waltham Precision Instrument Company.