ABSTRACT
Waltham applied the ‘American system of manufacturing’ to make watch parts with machine tools in a factory. It revolutionised watchmaking. Demand increased. The Ninth Census, 1870, and the Centennial Exhibition, 1876, showed that a few watch factories made a large output. Subsequent technical and organisational innovations improved Waltham’s efficiency. Automatic and semi-automatic machines prompted advances in production, accompanied by ‘modern’ advertising and marketing. Waltham’s example was followed by other American companies, notably Elgin. The ‘revolution’ enabled high quality reliable ‘railroad watches’, and cheap non-jewelled ‘dollar’ watches. Pioneers included Auburndale, Waterbury, and the Ingersoll brothers with their ‘dollar watch’. Production overruns created cut-throat competition and the ‘dumping’ of surpluses abroad. Only half of the new companies launched after 1880 survived after 1900. Swiss watch exports to the US flourished in the 1850s and 1860s, but then collapsed. Following the 1876 exhibition, Jacques David and Favre-Perret’s reports led to the adoption of appropriate aspects of the ‘American system’ by the Swiss industry – changes more evolutionary than revolutionary. Swiss industry was revitalised, re-established their international dominance, and was able to take advantage of new niche markets for wristwatches. By 1910, the Swiss dominated the world watch market.
