Pocket Watches · Pocket watch
Pocket watch, 1880s–1900s
- Maker / attribution
- Unrecorded in source
- Date
- 1880s–1900s
- Historical period
- Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)
- Country of origin
- Unrecorded in source
- Object type
- Pocket watch
- Materials / technique
- metal, glass
- Dimensions
- Kellon diam. 6 cm Suurimman lasipalan pit. 1.5 cm, lev. 2,5 cm Keskikokoisen lasipalan pit. 1 cm, lev. 2 cm Pienimmän lasipalan pit. 1 cm, lev. 1.5 cm
- Holding institution
- Työväenmuseo Werstas
- Accession / object no.
- tk_59844
- Credit line
- Työväenmuseo Werstas (via Finna)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Sointulan tulipalossa tuhoutunut kello; Otto Malinin tulipalossa tuhoutunut taskukello (Finnish)
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Record summary
Held and catalogued by Työväenmuseo Werstas (object number tk_59844), this is a pocket watch, dated 1880s–1900s. The Atlas places it in the Industrial Revolution period (1850 – 1900) of its Pocket Watches collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: metal, glass. Recorded dimensions: Kellon diam. 6 cm Suurimman lasipalan pit. 1.5 cm, lev. 2,5 cm Keskikokoisen lasipalan pit. 1 cm, lev. 2 cm Pienimmän lasipalan pit. 1 cm, lev. 1.5 cm. The record is illustrated with 3 photographs.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
Description — Työväenmuseo Werstas
Kello on kuulunut Otto Malinille. Hän lähti Malkosaarelle vuonna 1901 ja palasi Suomeen vuonna 1909. Hänen taskukellonsa tuhoutui 29.1.1903 Sointulan asuntolan/kokoustilan tulipalossa. Tulipalossa kuoli 11 ihmistä. Sointula oli Matti Kurikan Kanadaan perustama yhteisö Malcolmin saarella Brittiläisessä Kolumbiassa. Osuuskunta Kalevan Kansa Colonization Company hankki saaren vuonna 1901. Palossa tuhoutunut rakennus oli kolmikerroksinen yhteistalo, jossa osa perheistä asui. Ylimmässä kerroksessa oli Matti Kurikan mukaan ollut illalla palon syttymisen aikaan kokous, johon osallistui pääasiassa miehiä. Koko rakennuksessa oli 137 henkilöä. Lapset nukkuivat alemmissa kerroksissa. Kuolleista kahdeksan oli lapsia. Rakennus paloi maan tasalle ja 16 perhettä menetti kaiken omaisuutensa. Lähde: Etelä-Suomi 7.3.1903 joka lainaa The Vancouwer Daily Prowincea.
Shown in the original language of the source catalogue. An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.
Historical context
Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)
American interchangeable-parts manufacture; railroad time standards; Swiss and German factory systems.
Machine production with interchangeable parts, pioneered by Waltham (1850s) and adopted by Elgin, Longines, Omega and others, made reliable lever watches widely affordable. Keyless winding became standard, railroad watch standards were introduced (1890s), and Swiss and American industries competed globally.
Read the period in the timelineMore pocket watches from this periodEarlier: Precision & Scientific Horology
Atlas type guide
Pocket watches
The pocket watch was the dominant personal timekeeper from the late seventeenth century until the First World War. Its development tracks the history of the escapement: verge watches with fusees until the late eighteenth century; Thomas Mudge's lever escapement (c. 1755) and the cylinder escapement popularised by George Graham and later by Swiss makers; and the Swiss and English lever watches of the nineteenth century. Lépine's bar-bridge calibre and keyless winding made watches thinner and easier to use.
Industrialisation transformed the trade: American factories such as Waltham (from 1850) and Elgin produced interchangeable parts by machine, and Swiss makers responded with their own mechanisation after the 1876 Philadelphia Exhibition. By 1900 a reliable watch was affordable to millions; the finest makers continued to produce complications and precision watches.
What to look for
- The escapement: verge (crown wheel), cylinder, duplex, English or Swiss lever.
- Key winding (a square arbor in dial or back) or keyless crown winding.
- Signatures and serial numbers on the movement, dial and inside case back.
- Hallmarks, case maker's marks and gold or silver standards stamped in the case.
- Dial material: enamel, silver, gold, later printed metal.
Dating clues
- Verge watches dominate before c. 1800; cylinder watches c. 1770–1900; lever watches after c. 1820.
- Keyless winding: increasingly common after c. 1860.
- Manufacturer serial number lists exist for Waltham, Elgin, Longines, Omega, Patek Philippe and others.
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
Read next:Verge escapementDetached lever escapementFuseeIdentification Centre
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