Seth Thomas Pocket Watch Model 4
Seth Thomas Model 4 is represented in the Ehrhardt American Numbered Drawings as EA 809 and can be identified through the use of the drawing below:
Model 4 was the first key-wound and key-set model that Seth Thomas produced, the fourth Seth Thomas pocket watch design to enter production, and the first adaptable movement, that could be cased in either the hunting or the open-face orientation. Model 4 was referred to as “Fourth Series” [*1.d]. Model 4 movements were only manufactured with a gilt finish.
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Model 4 movements were manufactured with gilt finish and 7 jewels at grade 11 with a simple/plain regulator and flat hairspring.
Model 4 movements were manufactured with only one casing screw to hold the movement in place in its watch case. The lone casing screw received some assistance from a small brass pin protruding from the side of the movement’s pillar plate. This small brass pin lined up with a notch in the key-wound specific watch cases of that era to help hold the movement in place.
The early Seth Thomas Model 4 movements were manufactured without the winding cup that seems to have become standard equipment in the third production block. The winding cup is not shown or described in the 1890 & 1895 Illustrated Catalogue of Watchmakers’, Jewelers’, and Engravers’ Tools, Materials, etc. [1.d]; but it is shown and described in the 1904 Seth Thomas Watch Material Catalog [1.g].
Model 4 Movement Markings
The standard movement markings on Model 4 movements remained the same from the first Model 4 movement to the last. The signature portion “Seth Thomas” is in a partially overlapping concentric arc just above the “Thomaston, Conn.” portion of the signature on the arc of the circumference. “Seth Thomas” is engraved in a Formal Script font, and “Thomaston, Conn.” is engraved in a Serif Caps font. The serial number is at the right-hand end of the cutout below the balance wheel.
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Because the Model 4 movements were key-wound and key-set; there was no winding bridge and pinion or any of the other mechanical systems that were present in the stem-wound and lever-set movements of the day. Because the key-wound and key-set movements did not need to depend on accepting a watch case’s stem; they could be cased in either the hunting or the open-face configuration. Model 4 serial number 35843 is shown above, cased in the open-face configuration while Model 4 serial number 57617 is shown cased in the hunting configuration.
Model 4 serial number 35843 is shown above without the winding cup, and Model 4 serial number 57617 is shown with the winding cup. Many of the early movements, without the winding cup, show a degree of damage to the top plate from being wound without a cup present for protection.
Model 4 movements were made with only 1 casing screw, at the VI o’clock position, to hold the movement in the case; but there is also a small brass pin protruding from the side of the perimeter of the movement, at the XI o’clock position, which matches a notch on the inside of the special open-face watch cases made for key wound movements. Inserting the brass pin into this notch helps to stabilize the movement in the open-face orientation in the case. There is also a special notch in the special hunting watch case, at two o’clock position, to help stabilize the movement in the hunting case orientation. Because there is no winding stem orientation to consider Model 4 is adaptable to either open-face or hunting case orientation.
Owners of key-wound and key-set Model 4 movements clearly need to be supplied with one obvious pocket watch accessory, a key. Pocket watch keys were manufactured in many shapes, configurations, and sizes. Seth Thomas Model 4 key-wound and key-set movements most frequently require a size 5 watch key. It should not be surprising to discover that any particular Seth Thomas Model 4 could require the use of a size 4 key or size 6 key instead. I don’t know why. That’s just the way it seems to be. Below are photos of a handful of pocket watch keys that I have acquired over the past few years that I have been a collector. They are not exotic or very artistic in design, which may be why they accompanied a watch upon its purchase.
Key Wound & Key Set Movements
Seth Thomas Model 4 movements are all key wound and key set. A small number of Model 2 movements are also key wound and key set. Key winding and key setting are more direct less complicated than other methods. As you can see in the photographs below, both the cannon pinion and the barrel arbor have square protrusions that can be captured by a watch key for setting the time and winding the mainspring respectively.
The square hole of the minute hand engages with the square top of the cannon pinion. When using a key to turn the portion of the cannon pinion that protrudes through the minute hand, the bottom gear teeth of the cannon pinion turn the outer gear teeth of the minute wheel. The upper central gear teeth of the minute wheel pinion engage with the teeth on the bottom of the hour wheel upon which the hour hand rides. In the video below, the hour wheel can be seen to turn much more slowly than the key is turning the cannon pinion upon which the hour wheel rests.
When using a key to turn the square portion of the barrel arbor that protrudes through top plate of the movement, the mainspring is wound within the barrel. The winding energy is stored and maintained within the barrel by means of a ratchet wheel, click, and click spring which can all be accessed by removing the dial to expose the pillar plate, and then removing the ratchet bridge.
Model 4 movements were used in a little known Seth Thomas travel timepiece named the Traveler, which was only manufactured from 1906 to 1907. It can be seen in the 1915 advertisement below. The Traveler was not a clock, just as its close cousin, the Companion, was not a clock. Two cuts of the Traveler were utilized, one with a seconds bit and one without a seconds bit, while only two cuts were ever produced for the more prolific Companion travel timepiece base on the Model 6 in 1896 for which one cut was produced, upgraded ten years later with the Model 8 movement in 1906 for which the other cut was made, and was sold until Seth Thomas pocket watch sales ceased in 1915. While the Traveler is a tiny bit larger than the Companion, the easiest way to tell which one you’re looking at is that the Traveler has no crown to wind it, and no setting pin on the left side to set the time; because the Model 4 Traveler was key-wound and key-set.
Above are advertisements for Seth Thomas clocks on Page 777 and Page 778 from an unidentified 1915 magazine or catalog.
In the upper right hand corner of Page 777 is an image of the 1906-1907 Model 4 Traveler travel timepiece, a key-wound and key-set pocket watch cased in a leather covered bronze block; slightly larger than the Model 8 Companion travel timepiece. The images of clocks are 1904-1913 Seth Thomas Metal Novelty Mantel Clocks. They include the 1913 Cherubs, Bona, 1908 Natty, 1908 Prim, 1913 Dainty, 1913 Petite, the 1906 School Girl, the 1908 Bouquet, the 1905 Bungalow, the 1913 Jacket, and the 1904 Night Clock B.
*References
1. Bailey, Chris H.; Seth Thomas Watches 1885-1915; 1981; Published by American Clock & Watch Museum, Inc.; Printed by The Bond Press, Inc., Hartford CT 06106; ISBN 0-930476-09-3
1.a 1885 R. & L. Freidlander Jobbers In American Watches Illustrated Price List, 65 & 67 Nassau Street, New York NY
1.b 1890 Illustrated Catalogue of Seth Thomas Clocks No. 495
1.c 1892 Illustrated Catalogue of Seth Thomas Clocks No. 531
1.d 1890 & 1895 Illustrated Catalog of Tools Materials, Finding and Supplies, Lapp & Flershem, 98 State Street, Chicago IL
1.e 1895 Illustrated Catalog of Tools Materials, Finding and Supplies, Lapp & Flershem, 98 State Street, Chicago IL
1.f 1896 Illustrated Catalog of Watches, A. C. Becken, 103 State Street, Chicago IL
1.g 1904 Seth Thomas Watch Material Catalog No. 650
1.h 1904 Seth Thomas Watch Material Illustrated Price List No. 671
1.i 1905 Seth Thomas Watch Movements Illustrated Price List September 15, 1905
1.j 1908 Seth Thomas Watch Movements Illustrated Price List September 1, 1908
1.k 1909 Seth Thomas Watch Movements Illustrated Price List October 1, 1909
1.l 1913 Seth Thomas Watch Movements Illustrated Price List Centennial Edition September 1, 1913
1.m 1914 Seth Thomas Clock Company Supplement No. 705 to Catalog No. 700 Illustrated Price List September 1, 1908
1.n Catalog of Seth Thomas Watch Models and Grades, compiled by Daniel J. Gaenger
1.o Seth Thomas’ Watches: Thirty Years of Manufacture, by Chris H. Bailey
1.p United States Patents granted to Herman A. T. Reinecke and Charles T. Higginbotham for watch features utilized by the Seth Thomas Company
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