Sears, Roebuck & Co.
Information from Wholesale, Retail, and Manufacturer’s Catalogs
In the Sears, Roebuck & Company 1896 Spring Catalog No 102 (shown above) Seth Thomas pocket watches were not a big story. There were no images of Seth Thomas movements or dials. They were included in the list of choices for watch movements to fill the advertised watch cases as the low-end seven jewel option. It wasn’t until the 1898 Fall Catalog No 107 (shown below) that images of Seth Thomas movements were on display in the Sears, Roebuck & Company catalog. The first images included two seven-jewel Model 10 private labels, Pan-American and Century U.S.A., both lauded for their reliability. The Century movement and glitzy case combination was marketed as a “Trading Watch”; before that definition included the installation of fake jewels covering the pivots on the top plate, and false movement markings claiming 17, 21, or 23 jewels and that the movement was adjusted.
Catalog Listings
Advertising for Seth Thomas private labels Century U.S.A, Countess Janet, Edgemere, Pan-American, Trainmens Special, and Waldorf U.S.A.
Special Century Grade Dial Facts
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 marked Century U.S.A. 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 24 Century U.S.A. doesn’t fit the black marginals Century description or the red marginals Centennial description. There is also 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 the Centennial summary description of red marginals.
It is possible that the Model 24 Century U.S.A. movements were manufactured as special commemorative for the Centennial celebration recognizing the contribution that Century grade movements had made to the success of Seth Thomas pocket watch manufacturing. 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.
In the Sears, Roebuck & Company 1901 Fall Catalog No 111M the 6-size 11-Jewel Model 16 Edgemere pocket watch movement manufactured by Seth Thomas debuted. This was the beginning of the Century movements’ being phased out of the Sears, Roebuck & Company catalogs. The 11-Jewel Model 16 Edgemere has a unique appearance among the Seth Thomas Edgemere movements. It is the only one that bears the engraving of Sears, Roebuck & Co. on its top plate and the engraving font is different than the others, and as is frequently the case, quite different from the engraving on the cut displayed in the advertisements. It is a rarely seen version of the Seth Thomas Edgemere private label movements.
In the Sears, Roebuck & Company 1904 Spring Catalog No 113Y the 18-size 7-Jewel open-face Model 12 Edgemere, the 17-Jewel Model 9 Edgemere, the 12-Jewel open-face Model 8 Edgemere pocket watch movements, and the 7-Jewel Model 12 private label trading watch Trainmens Special manufactured by Seth Thomas debuted.
In the Sears, Roebuck & Company 1905 Catalog No 115 and 1907 Spring and Fall Catalogs the Seth Thomas private label pocket watch, Countess Janet, was advertised. The Countess Janet movements were marketed as a “Trading Watch” in the way that we use that term today to describe 7-jewel movements that utilized fake jewels covering the pivots on the top plate, and false movement markings claiming 17, 21, or 23 jewels and that the movement was adjusted.
In the Sears, Roebuck & Company 1910 Fall Catalog No 121V the 6-size 7-Jewel open-face Model 24 Waldorf U.S.A. and the 6-size hunting Model 18 Waldorf U.S.A. pocket watches manufactured by Seth Thomas debuted. They can each be seen in the lower right hand corner of their respective pages.
Above is a drawing of the 12X6-size open-face Waldorf U.S.A. movement advertised in the Sears, Roebuck & Company catalog on page 811. If you look at the drawing of the movement closely you can see that it was printed backwards. If you compare it to the movement photograph above, the balance bridge is on the wrong side, and the serial numbers are written backwards. Below you can see photographs of the 12X6 open-face Model 24 Waldorf U.S.A. and 6-size hunting version of the Waldorf U.S.A., Model 18, shown on page 830.
