Wristwatches · Wrist watches
Wrist watches by Unidentified, United States, early to mid 20th century
- Maker / attribution
- Unidentified (Manufactured by); Harriette Vyda Simms Moore, American, 1902 - 1952 (Worn by)
- Date
- early to mid 20th century
- Historical period
- Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
- Country of origin
- United States
- Place
- New Carrollton, Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, North and Central America; Mims, Brevard County, Florida, United States,…
- Object type
- Wrist watches
- Materials / technique
- metal
- Dimensions
- metal; H x W (Case): 1 1/8 x 1 x 1/4 in. (2.9 x 2.5 x 0.6 cm); Diameter (Band): 2 1/8 in. (5.4 cm)
- Holding institution
- National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC
- Accession / object no.
- 2013.157.1
- Credit line
- Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Donated by Juanita Evangeline Moore, daughter; "Skip" Pagan, grandson; and Darren Pagan, great-grandson
- Catalogue title (original)
- Wrist watch worn by Harriette Moore
Record summary
Held and catalogued by National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC (object number 2013.157.1), this is a wrist watches by Unidentified, made in New Carrollton, Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, North and Central America; Mims, Brevard County, Florida, United States,…, dated early to mid 20th century. The Atlas places it in the Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking period (1900 – 1945) of its Wristwatches collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: metal. Recorded dimensions: metal; H x W (Case): 1 1/8 x 1 x 1/4 in. (2.9 x 2.5 x 0.6 cm); Diameter (Band): 2 1/8 in. (5.4 cm). The record is illustrated with 1 photograph.
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
Woman’s wrist watch worn by Harriette Vyda Sims Moore. The watch has a gold-colored face with black hour and minute hands and black numerals, some of which are partially worn away. Under the numeral six is the word "Swiss." The watch is housed in an eight sided watch case, also of a gold colored metal. Both the face and the case have swirling floral designs engraved on them. The two lugs on either side that attach the strap to the case are made of a dark brassy colored metal. They attach to two silver colored rings that make up the ends of the watch band. The band itself is a silver colored metal and has no clasp as it is a stretch band. It is possibly not contemporary to the watch itself. The back of the watch case has a decorative floral band around the edge. The center is plain, with numerous scratches. The crystal (glass) is missing.
Historical context
Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
The wristwatch displaces the pocket watch; waterproof cases, self-winding and grand complications.
The wristwatch overtook the pocket watch. Military use in the First World War, aviation, water-resistant cases (1926), automatic winding (1923–31), rectangular Art Deco designs and early chronographs and calendars defined the period.
Read the period in the timelineMore wristwatches from this periodEarlier: Industrial Revolution
Atlas type guide
Wristwatches
Bracelet watches were worn by women from the early nineteenth century — Breguet made one for Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples, in 1810–12 — but the wristwatch only became a man's instrument with military use and aviation in the early twentieth century. Between the World Wars it overtook the pocket watch; the 1920s and 1930s brought rectangular Art Deco cases, water-resistant cases and the first automatic winding systems.
After 1945 the wristwatch became a carrier of identity — dress watches, sports and dive watches, chronographs, calendars — produced by Swiss, American, Japanese, German, Soviet and Chinese industries. The quartz revolution after 1969 and the mechanical renaissance since the 1990s, including the rise of independent watchmakers, complete the story.
What to look for
- The reference number (between the lugs or inside the case back) and serial number, the starting point for dating.
- The calibre: its maker and number are often stamped under the dial or on the bridge.
- Originality of dial, hands and crown — refinished ('redial') dials are common.
- Case material marks: 18K/750, 14K/585, stainless steel, gold-filled, plated.
Dating clues
- Wire-lug cases: before c. 1925.
- Water-resistant screw-down cases: from 1926.
- Quartz movements: from 1969; sapphire crystals widespread after c. 1980.
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.
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