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Tools · American pocket watches

When was my pocket watch made?

American watch factories numbered their movements in long running sequences, so the serial number on a Waltham, Elgin, Hamilton or Illinois movement dates it to within a year or two. Type the number and the dater shows the year from both published lists — and says so when they disagree.

Serial number dater

Date the movement

Name on the movement

The number on the movement plate, not inside the case back. Commas and spaces are fine. Nothing you type leaves this page.

Choose the maker and type the movement number: the estimated year appears here, with both published lists side by side.

Which number is the serial?

An American pocket watch usually carries several numbers, and only one of them dates it. Most movements were sold to jewellers uncased and fitted into a case made by a different company, so the case and the movement each have their own numbering.

NumberWhat it tells you
Movement serialSix to eight digits stamped or engraved on the top plate or a bridge of the movement. The only number these lists date.
Case numberInside the case back or on the dome. Made by a separate case company, so it says nothing about the movement's year.
GradeA short number or name (Elgin 'B. W. Raymond', Hamilton '992', Waltham 'Vanguard') for the quality of movement; it tells you what the watch is, not when it was made.
Model and sizeSizes such as 18s, 16s or 12s describe the movement diameter; models are design generations within a size.
Patent dates'Pat. Nov. 1873' and similar are dates of a patent, often decades before the watch.

Opening the case safely

Most screw-back cases unscrew anticlockwise by hand; snap backs have a small lip for a case knife. If the back will not move, stop — a jeweller can open it without marking the case. Never prise at the hinge of a hunter cover.

Why the year is "about"

Each row of a serial list gives the first number a factory reached in a year. Factories allocated numbers to production runs in advance, and plates were sometimes numbered and stored before they were finished, so a movement can be a little younger than its number suggests. The watch was then cased and sold — sometimes a year or more later — and cases were often replaced during a watch's working life.

A documented example in the catalogue shows the gap. The Waltham watch carried by Matthew Henson on Peary's 1908–09 North Pole expedition has movement number 3,639,616. The standard list gives 1887 for that number; the museum that holds it dates the watch to 1888–1889. Both can be right: the movement was numbered first, the cased watch sold later, and the expedition used it two decades after that.

The makers covered

  • American Waltham Watch Co. (American Watch Co., Waltham Watch Co.), Waltham, Massachusetts (1852–1957 in these lists). Waltham numbered its movements in one running sequence. Its factory ledgers survive and the NAWCC has put them online, so a Waltham can be dated to its production batch there; the lists below are the quick approximation.
  • Elgin National Watch Co. (National Watch Co. until 1874), Elgin, Illinois (1867–1956 in these lists). The first Elgin movement, an 18-size B. W. Raymond, was number 101 in 1867. Plates were numbered and sometimes stockpiled before finishing, so a watch can be a year or more younger than its number suggests.
  • Hamilton Watch Co., Lancaster, Pennsylvania (1893–1942 in these lists). From about 1940 Hamilton gave some grades letter prefixes (C, S, 2B, 4C …) with their own number series; those are not covered by this list. Long stretches of the published list rise by exactly 100,000, 50,000 or 40,000 a year — a sign of rounding, so read the year inside those bands as approximate.
  • Illinois Watch Co. (Illinois Springfield Watch Co.), Springfield, Illinois (1872–1948 in these lists). Illinois also made movements sold under other names (Burlington and Santa Fe Route among them), so the serial can identify an Illinois that does not say so. The two published lists disagree badly for Illinois — by up to about twelve years around 1900–1920 — so treat any single year with caution.

Other American factories — Hampden, Rockford, South Bend, E. Howard, Ball (whose movements were made by Hamilton, Waltham and others) — kept their own sequences and are not covered yet.

The serial lists, year by year

Both lists are shown as published, so you can see where they part company. They are approximations compiled by collectors and dealers, not copies of factory records; where the factory records are online they are linked from the result above.

Waltham · 1852–1957

Waltham numbered its movements in one running sequence. Its factory ledgers survive and the NAWCC has put them online, so a Waltham can be dated to its production batch there; the lists below are the quick approximation.

First movement serial number of each year, Waltham: standard and second published lists
YearStandard listSecond list
185250—
1853400—
18541,000—
18552,500—
18564,000—
18576,0001,000
185810,00014,000
185915,00017,000
186020,00020,000
186130,00023,000
186245,00034,000
186365,00046,000
1864110,000118,000
1865180,000190,000
1866260,000262,000
1867330,000335,000
1868410,000410,000
1869460,000470,000
1870500,000500,000
1871540,000550,000
1872590,000600,000
1873680,000691,000
1874730,000720,000
1875810,000791,000
1876910,000800,000
18771,000,000900,000
18781,150,0001,000,000
18791,350,0001,500,000
18801,500,000—
18811,670,0001,675,000
18821,835,0001,837,000
18832,000,0002,000,000
18842,350,0002,356,000
18852,650,0002,650,000
18863,000,0003,000,000
18873,400,0003,300,000
18883,800,0003,700,000
18894,200,0004,000,000
18904,700,0004,882,000
18915,200,0005,000,000
18925,800,0006,000,000
18936,300,0006,400,000
18946,700,0006,650,000
18957,100,0007,000,000
18967,450,0007,500,000
18978,100,0008,000,000
18988,400,0008,500,000
18999,000,0009,000,000
19009,500,0009,550,000
190110,200,00010,000,000
190211,100,00011,000,000
190312,100,00012,000,000
190413,500,00013,000,000
190514,300,00014,000,000
190614,700,00014,500,000
190715,500,00015,000,000
190816,400,00017,000,000
190917,600,00017,500,000
191017,900,00018,000,000
191118,100,00018,030,000
191218,200,00018,060,000
191318,900,00019,000,000
191419,500,00020,000,000
191520,000,00020,300,000
191620,500,00020,700,000
191720,900,00021,000,000
191821,800,00022,000,000
191922,500,00023,000,000
192023,400,00023,500,000
192123,900,00024,000,000
192224,100,00024,200,000
192324,300,00024,400,000
192424,550,00024,600,000
192524,800,00024,800,000
192625,200,00025,000,000
192726,100,00026,000,000
192826,400,00026,500,000
192926,900,00027,000,000
193027,100,00027,200,000
193127,300,00027,400,000
193227,550,00027,600,000
193327,750,00027,800,000
193428,100,00028,000,000
193528,600,00028,500,000
193629,100,00029,000,000
193729,400,00029,300,000
193829,750,00029,700,000
193930,050,00030,300,000
194030,250,00030,600,000
194130,750,00030,700,000
194231,050,00031,000,000
194331,400,00031,370,000
194431,700,00031,650,000
194532,100,00032,000,000
194632,350,00032,600,000
194732,750,00032,700,000
194833,100,00033,000,000
194933,500,00033,449,000
195033,560,00033,558,000
195133,600,00033,600,000
195233,700,00033,700,000
195333,800,00033,830,000
195434,100,000—
195534,450,000—
195634,700,000—
195735,000,000—

Lists as reproduced by Antique Pocket Watch (opens another website in a new tab) (standard list) and C&C Watchmaker (opens another website in a new tab) (second list). "—" means the list gives no figure for that year.

Elgin · 1867–1956

The first Elgin movement, an 18-size B. W. Raymond, was number 101 in 1867. Plates were numbered and sometimes stockpiled before finishing, so a watch can be a year or more younger than its number suggests.

First movement serial number of each year, Elgin: standard and second published lists
YearStandard listSecond list
18671019,000
186830,00025,000
186970,00040,000
1870100,00050,000
1871125,000185,000
1872150,000201,000
1873175,000325,000
1874200,000400,000
1875300,000430,000
1876400,000480,000
1877500,000520,000
1878550,000570,000
1879600,000625,000
1880700,000750,000
1881800,000900,000
18821,000,0001,000,000
18831,400,0001,250,000
18841,600,0001,500,000
18851,800,0001,855,000
18862,000,0002,000,000
18872,500,0002,500,000
18883,000,0003,000,000
18893,500,0003,500,000
18904,000,0004,000,000
18914,440,0004,449,000
18924,880,0004,600,000
18935,000,0005,000,000
18945,500,0005,500,000
18956,000,0006,000,000
18966,500,0006,500,000
18977,000,0007,000,000
18987,500,0007,495,000
18998,000,0008,000,000
19009,000,0009,000,000
19019,300,0009,300,000
19029,750,0009,600,000
190310,000,00010,000,000
190411,000,00011,000,000
190512,000,00012,000,000
190612,500,00012,500,000
190713,000,00013,000,000
190813,500,00013,500,000
190914,000,00014,000,000
191015,000,00015,000,000
191116,000,00016,000,000
191217,000,00017,000,000
191317,500,00017,339,000
191418,000,00018,000,000
191518,500,00018,587,000
191619,000,00019,000,000
191720,000,00020,031,000
191821,000,00021,000,000
191922,000,00022,000,000
192023,000,00023,000,000
192124,000,00024,321,000
192225,000,00025,100,000
192326,000,00026,050,000
192427,000,00027,000,000
192528,000,00028,421,000
192629,000,00029,100,000
192730,000,00030,050,000
192832,000,00031,599,000
192933,000,00032,000,000
193033,300,00032,599,000
193133,500,00033,000,000
193233,700,00033,700,000
193334,000,00034,558,000
193435,000,00035,000,000
193535,500,00035,650,000
193636,000,00036,200,000
193737,000,00036,978,000
193837,500,00037,900,000
193938,000,00038,200,000
194039,000,00039,100,000
194140,000,00040,200,000
194241,000,00041,100,000
194342,000,00042,200,000
194442,500,00042,600,000
194543,000,00043,200,000
194644,000,00044,000,000
194745,000,00045,000,000
194846,000,00046,000,000
194947,000,00047,000,000
195048,000,00048,000,000
195149,000,00050,000,000
195252,000,00052,000,000
195353,500,00053,500,000
195454,000,00054,000,000
195554,500,00054,500,000
195655,000,00055,000,000

Lists as reproduced by Antique Pocket Watch (opens another website in a new tab) (standard list) and C&C Watchmaker (opens another website in a new tab) (second list). "—" means the list gives no figure for that year.

Hamilton · 1893–1942

From about 1940 Hamilton gave some grades letter prefixes (C, S, 2B, 4C …) with their own number series; those are not covered by this list. Long stretches of the published list rise by exactly 100,000, 50,000 or 40,000 a year — a sign of rounding, so read the year inside those bands as approximate.

First movement serial number of each year, Hamilton: standard and second published lists
YearStandard listSecond list
189312,000
18945,0005,000
189511,50011,500
189616,00016,000
189727,00027,000
189850,00050,000
189974,00074,000
1900104,000104,000
1901143,000143,000
1902196,000196,000
1903260,000260,000
1904340,000340,000
1905435,000435,000
1906500,000500,000
1907580,000580,000
1908680,000680,000
1909750,000750,000
1910790,000790,000
1911860,000860,000
1912940,000940,000
19131,000,0001,000,000
19141,100,0001,100,000
19151,200,0001,200,000
19161,300,0001,300,000
19171,400,0001,400,000
19181,500,0001,500,000
19191,600,0001,600,000
19201,700,0001,700,000
19211,800,0001,800,000
19221,900,0001,900,000
19232,000,0002,000,000
19242,050,0002,050,000
19252,100,0002,100,000
19262,150,0002,150,000
19272,200,0002,200,000
19282,250,0002,250,000
19292,300,0002,300,000
19302,350,0002,350,000
19312,400,0002,400,000
19322,440,0002,440,000
19332,480,0002,480,000
19342,520,0002,520,000
19352,560,0002,560,000
19362,600,0002,600,000
19372,900,0002,900,000
19383,200,0003,200,000
19393,400,0003,400,000
19404,000,000—
19414,250,0004,250,000
19424,500,0004,500,000

Lists as reproduced by Antique Pocket Watch (opens another website in a new tab) (standard list) and C&C Watchmaker (opens another website in a new tab) (second list). "—" means the list gives no figure for that year.

Illinois · 1872–1948

Illinois also made movements sold under other names (Burlington and Santa Fe Route among them), so the serial can identify an Illinois that does not say so. The two published lists disagree badly for Illinois — by up to about twelve years around 1900–1920 — so treat any single year with caution.

First movement serial number of each year, Illinois: standard and second published lists
YearStandard listSecond list
1872115,000
187320,00037,000
187450,00059,000
187575,00081,000
1876100,000103,000
1877145,000125,000
1878210,000147,000
1879250,000169,000
1880300,000191,000
1881350,000210,000
1882400,000230,000
1883450,000250,000
1884500,000270,000
1885550,000285,000
1886600,000300,000
1887700,000333,000
1888800,000366,000
1889900,000399,000
18901,000,000432,000
18911,040,000465,000
18921,080,000478,000
18931,120,000531,000
18941,160,000575,000
18951,220,000600,000
1896—680,000
18971,290,000760,000
18981,330,000840,000
18991,370,000920,000
19001,410,0001,000,000
19011,450,0001,280,000
19021,500,0001,560,000
19031,650,0001,846,000
19041,700,0002,120,000
19051,800,0002,460,000
19061,840,0002,600,000
19071,900,0002,940,000
19082,100,0003,220,000
19092,150,0003,520,000
19102,200,0003,800,000
19112,300,0003,900,000
19122,400,0004,000,000
19132,500,0004,070,000
19142,600,0004,150,000
19152,700,0004,220,000
19162,800,0004,230,000
19173,000,0004,240,000
19183,200,0004,250,000
19193,400,0004,300,000
19203,600,0004,400,000
19213,750,0004,500,000
1922—4,683,000
19234,000,0004,866,000
19244,500,0005,049,000
19254,700,0005,232,000
19264,800,0005,415,000
1927—5,600,000
19285,000,000—
19295,150,000—
19305,300,000—
19315,400,000—
19325,488,300—
19345,500,000—
19485,600,000—

Lists as reproduced by Antique Pocket Watch (opens another website in a new tab) (standard list) and C&C Watchmaker (opens another website in a new tab) (second list). "—" means the list gives no figure for that year.

Questions people ask

Where is the serial number on a pocket watch?

On the movement — the mechanism — not on the case. Open the back (most American watches have a screw-off or snap-off back, some a hinged inner cover called a dust cover) and read the number on the plate around the balance and wheels. A number inside the case back is the case maker's.

How accurate is a date from the serial number?

For Waltham, Elgin and Hamilton the two published lists usually agree within a year or two. A watch was often finished, cased and sold later than its movement was numbered, so read the result as 'made about'. Illinois lists disagree by up to about twelve years in places.

Why do the two lists disagree?

Neither is a transcription of the factory ledgers. Both were compiled from secondary sources and rounded — long runs of exactly a million or exactly 100,000 a year are a sign — and compilers placed some year boundaries differently. Where the ledgers are published (Waltham through the NAWCC, Elgin through Elgintime), those records settle it.

My Hamilton number starts with a letter — what does it mean?

From about 1940 Hamilton gave some grades their own number series with a letter prefix (C, S, 2B, 4C and others). Those series are not in these lists; Hamilton's production records are the reliable guide.

Does the serial number tell me what the watch is worth?

No. The serial dates the movement. Value depends on the grade, condition, originality of dial and case, the case metal and demand. The Atlas does not value watches; it shows documented examples in the catalogue for comparison.

Can I date a Swiss or English watch this way?

Not with these lists. Swiss makers numbered independently and few published lists exist; English watches are best dated by the hallmarks in a silver or gold case, which give the year the case was assayed.

Factory records online: NAWCC Waltham database (opens another website in a new tab) · Elgintime (Elgin) (opens another website in a new tab).

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