Lever Brothers is a private label in Seth Thomas Model 2 and Model 14. The Lever Brothers private label pocket watches manufactured by Seth Thomas were purchased by Lever Brothers as prizes for winners in the nearby Eisteddfod festival competitions in poetry and music, an historic cultural tradition across all of Wales dating back to the year 1176. The Welsh name for the ancient cultural festival “Eisteddfod” combines “eistedd”, the root of the Welsh word “sit” and “fod” root of the Welsh word “be”, to convey the idea of sitting and listening.

Lever Brothers is the name of an international British company that was founded in the same year that Seth Thomas started marketing pocket watches, 1885.  The factory located near the border between England and Wales manufactured soap. People alive today may still be familiar with some of the brand names, Lifebuoy and Lux, that they produced. In 1929 Lever Brothers merged with a Dutch margarine company, Margarine Unie, to form the corporation Unilever.

While Lever Brothers was in operation, the company took great interest in the welfare of its employees in England and provided a self-contained community, Port Sunlight, near the factory for them. Port Sunlight provided quality housing, the Lady Lever Art Gallery, schools, a hospital, concert hall, hotel, church, and local community clubs that promoted art, literature, science, and music.

The half-hunter cases that contained the Lever Brothers movements bore the engraving “14k Stiffened”. There were no manufacturer signatures or trademarks to identify the manufacturer.