Seth Thomas Grades: Named Grades
Century Grade
From an historical perspective the lower quality named grade movements are actually much more significant artifacts than the higher quality named grade movements, in that they made up the vast majority of the consumer population’s experience of Seth Thomas named grade pocket watches. There were far more Century grade pocket watches sold from the catalog of Sears, Roebuck & Company alone than there were Maiden Lane and Henry Molineux grade pocket watches ever manufactured, by many multiples of times. If you consider the multitude of all private label watches manufactured in the Century grade; their impact, in terms of consumer contact with any of the Seth Thomas product lines, was really quite huge. In terms of their significance as touchstones or markers in the historical record of horology or the industrial and economic development of the United States, the seven-jewel private label watches of Century grade tell a remarkable story that dwarfs the significance of the seventeen through twenty-five jewel Maiden Lane and Henry Molineux grades.
According to the “List of Models” found on Page 1 of the 1904 Seth Thomas Watch Material Catalog, Century grade includes all Seth Thomas pocket watch movements manufactured in their Old Century Model 10 and Model 11, New Century Model 12 and 13, and 6-size Century Model 18 lines. Century grade is also found mixed into the Centennial grade Model 24, much in the way that Maiden Lane and Henry Molineux grade movements are found integrated into the Seth Thomas numbered grade Model 2, Model 3, and Model 5 lines.
It was stated in the original 1904 Seth Thomas Dials Chart that “All Century Grade Dials Have Black Marginal Figures”. That was true at the time; but with the introduction of the open-face 6-size Centennial Model 24 Century U.S.A. movements were produced with a dial sporting no marginal figures. One could argue that all Model 24 movements are Centennial grade. The 1913 Centennial Edition Price List summarizes the product line as “Seth Thomas “Centennial” open-face watches. 7-Jewel High-Grade Movements. Red Marginal Dials”. The Model 23 Century U.S.A. doesn’t fit that description, and there is an open-face Model 24 private label Republic U.S.A. in my collection with black marginals, and a seconds bit, on the dial, also contradicting that summary. It is possible that the Model 24 Century U.S.A. movements were manufactured as special commemorative for the Centennial celebration. After all; in 1913 they would not have been produced for Sears, Roebuck & Company, as their sale of Century movements was gradually phased out starting in the Fall of 1901 with the introduction of the Edgemere line and Century was gone in the 1902 Fall catalog. Century movements were then seen in the catalogs of A.C. Becken, Brooks Optical, N. Shure Company, John M. Smyth Company, Holsman & Alter, Lapp & Flershem, W.H. Lasselle, and Otto Young & Co.
Images of Century Grade Movements
Find detailed specifications and background information about these watches in the Private Labels section of Seth Thomas Fan Space!
Adonis U.S.A. - Seth Thomas 6-size Century Model 18
Athabasca Made in U.S.A. - Seth Thomas 6-size Century Model 18
Century U.S.A. - Seth Thomas 18-size Old Century Model 10
Century U.S.A. - Seth Thomas 18-size Old Century Model 11
Century U.S.A. - Seth Thomas 18-size New Century Model 12
Century U.S.A. - Seth Thomas 18-size New Century Model 13
Century U.S.A. - Seth Thomas 6-size Century Model 18
Century U.S.A. - Seth Thomas 6-size Pendant Set Model 24
Colonial U.S.A. - Seth Thomas 18-size Old Century Model 10
(Photographed at the American Clock & Watch Museum in Bristol Connecticut)
Colonial U.S.A. - Seth Thomas 18-size New Century Model 12
Corona Watch Company - Seth Thomas 18-size New Century Model 12
Corona Watch Company - Seth Thomas 18-size New Century Model 13
Countess Janet - Seth Thomas 6-size Century Model 18
Edgemere - Seth Thomas 18-size New Century Model 12
Edgemere - Seth Thomas 18-size Century Model 13
Engine Special - Seth Thomas 18-size New Century Model 12
Knickerbocker Watch Co. New York - Seth Thomas 18-size New Century Model 12
Knickerbocker Watch Co. New York - Seth Thomas 18-size New Century Model 13
Knickerbocker Watch Co. New York - Seth Thomas 6-size Century Model 18
Knickerbocker Watch Co. New York - Seth Thomas 6-size Pendant Set Model 24
Pan American - Seth Thomas 18-size Old Century Model 10
Pan American - Seth Thomas 18-size Old Century Model 11
