Seth Thomas Private Label Disambiguation
Contrary to a somewhat common belief, the identity of private label pocket watches most often originated with the seller, whether at the retail or the wholesale level, not with the manufacturer. It is the seller who contracts with one or more manufacturers to produce private label pocket watches, and who selects different domestic and foreign manufacturers to meet the seller’s particular market requirements regarding diversity of price points and design characteristics. Some manufacturers did manufacture a broad range of trade name movements and then market them nationwide; but in the truest sense of the term “private label” the seller, not the manufacturer, initiates the creation of the movements.
This page compares selected private label movements that Seth Thomas took part in manufacturing with examples of non-Seth Thomas movements carrying the same or closely related private label identities. These comparisons help collectors and researchers to better understand what we are looking at. They also differentiate the seller-centered private label market from the movement manufacturer, and caution against treating every private label name as a Seth Thomas factory grade or dismissing every Swiss-made counterpart as a fake without supporting evidence.
As additional examples are documented, this page may grow into a broader comparative study of private label names on the movements that Seth Thomas produced and their relationships to their non-Seth Thomas counterparts.
Athabasca by Seth Thomas - 18-size - Model 12 - EA 813C
Athabasca by Seth Thomas in 6-size - Model 18 - EA 821
Non-Seth Thomas Movements
Athabasca by a Swiss manufacturer, whose identity has not yet been determined, in 44 mm.
Known sellers:
No known seller has yet been identified.
Banner by Seth Thomas in 18-size - Model 6 - EA 811
Banner by Seth Thomas in 6-size - Model 16 - EA 820
Non-Seth Thomas Movements
The Banner by Hamilton Watch Company in 18-size - Model 1A - EA 302
Reference illustration from Roy Ehrhardt; specimen not examined by STFS, used with permission.
Banner by International Watch Company in 16-size Model 1 - EA 552 (20-size error in EA diagram)
Banner Watch Co. by a Swiss manufacturer whose identity has not yet been determined
Known sellers:
Ben F. Harless of Houston, Texas
Columbia - New York by Seth Thomas in 6-size - Model 15 - EA 819
It has been reported to me that my imagery of this watch has been placed on another Seth Thomas pocket watch website in violation of copyright law.
Non-Seth Thomas Movements
Columbia by Illinois Watch Company in 18-size - Model 1 - EA 452
Columbia by Elgin National Watch Company in 16-size - Model 6 - EA 222
Columbia by Trenton Watch Company in 6-size - Model 2 - EA 881
Columbia U.S.A. by New York Standard in 6-size - Model 1 - EA 685
Dial variations available with the Columbia U.S.A. - New York Standard in 6-size - Model 1 - EA 685
Known sellers:
No seller of the Seth Thomas Columbia - New York has yet been identified.
Illinois Watch Company used the Columbia name as a grade.
The New York Standard Columbia U.S.A. complete watches were sold by mail-order through the R.E. Chalmers & Co. catalog.
C. Cowles & Co. - New Haven by Seth Thomas in 18-size - Model 8 - EA 811A
Non-Seth Thomas Movements
C. Cowles & Co. - New Haven by New England Watch Co. in 16-size - Series Y - EA 595
Known sellers:
Criterion by Seth Thomas in 18-size - Model 12 - EA 813C
Non-Seth Thomas Movements
Criterion by Ingersoll Watch Company in 20-size - Model 17 - EA 526
Known sellers:
A. Levy of Macon, Georgia; Ed Seabolt’s of Scandia, Kansas; J. F. Stack of Glen Falls, New York
Criterion by a Swiss manufacturer whose identity has not yet been determined
Criterion by an Austrian manufacturer whose identity has not yet been determined
Known sellers:
Edgemere by Seth Thomas in 18-size - Model 8 - EA 811A
Edgemere by Seth Thomas in 18-size Model 9 - EA 812A
Edgemere by Seth Thomas in 18-size Model 12 - EA 813C
Edgemere by Seth Thomas in 18-size Model 13 - EA 814A
Edgemere by Seth Thomas in 6-size Model 16 - EA 820
Edgemere by Seth Thomas in 6-size Model 17 - EA 820
Edgemere by Seth Thomas in 6-size Model 17 - EA 820
Non-Seth Thomas Movements
Edgemere by Trenton Watch Company in 16-size - Model 2 - EA 872
Edgemere by Trenton Watch Company in 18-size - Model 6 - EA 867
Edgemere by New York Standard in 18-size Model 12 - EA 659
Edgemere by New York Standard in 6-size Model 12 - EA 686C
Edgemere by Swiss manufacturer in 13 Lignes/29 mm/0-size
Edgemere by Swiss manufacturer whose identity has not yet been determined
Edgemere by Swiss manufacturer, whose identity has not yet been determined, in 13 Lignes/29 mm/0-size
Known sellers:
As reported by the Pocket Watch Database, the Knickerbocker Watch Co. of New York, New York had its trademark name applied to various American-made and Swiss-made movements and distributed them widely across the United State market through retailers such as: The Star Store of New Bedford, Massachusetts; The Petter Jewelry Company of Hannibal, Missouri; The James Hislop Company of New London, Connecticut
Knickerbocker Watch Co. - New York by Seth Thomas in 18-size Model 12 - EA 813C
Knickerbocker Watch Co. - New York by Seth Thomas in 18-size Model 13 - EA 814A
Knickerbocker Watch Co. - New York by Seth Thomas in 6-size Model 18 - EA 821
Knickerbocker Watch Co. - New York by Seth Thomas in 6-size Model 24 - EA 822
Non-Seth Thomas Movements
Knickerbocker Watch Co. - New York by New England Watch Company in 18-size - Series XXX - EA 584
Knickerbocker Watch Co. - New York by New England Watch Company in 16-size - Series U - EA 587
Knickerbocker Watch Co. - New York by New England Watch Company in 10-size - Series F - EA 605
Knickerbocker Watch Co. - New York by New England Watch Company in 6-size - Series L - EA 612
Knickerbocker Watch Co. - New York by New England Watch Company in 18-size - Series XXX - EA 586
Knickerbocker Watch Co. - New York by New England Watch Company in 16X12-size - Series FT - EA 591
Knickerbocker Watch Co. - New York by New England Watch Company in 16-size - Series Y - EA 595
Knickerbocker Watch Co. - New York by New England Watch Company in 16-size - Series Y - EA Unknown
Knickerbocker Watch Co. - New York by New England Watch Company in 3/0-size - Series ZZ - EA 621
Knickerbocker Watch Co. - New York by New York Standard Watch Company in 6-size - Model 1 - EA 685
Knickerbocker Watch Co. - New York by Swiss manufacturer - Juillard - Barclay
Knickerbocker Watch Co. - New York by Swiss manufacturer - Juillard
Knickerbocker Watch Co. - New York by Swiss manufacturer - St. Imier
Knickerbocker Watch Co. - New York by a Swiss manufacturer whose identity has not yet been determined
Knickerbocker Watch Co. - New York by Swiss manufacturer whose identity has not yet been determined
Knickerbocker Watch Co. - New York by Swiss manufacturer - Stuyvesant
New England Watch Company - Knickerbocker Dial Variants
Swiss Watch Manufacturers - Knickerbocker Dial Variants
Known sellers:
Lake Shore by Seth Thomas in 18-size Model 5 - EA 810
Lake Shore by Seth Thomas in 6-size Model 18 - EA 221
Lake Shore by Seth Thomas in 6-size Model 24 - EA 222
Non-Seth Thomas Movements
Lake Shore by Illinois Watch Company in 18-size Model 5 - EA 456B
Lake Shore by Illinois Watch Company in 18-size Model 5 - EA 457B
Lake Shore by Swiss maker G. Huther
Known sellers:
No seller of the Seth Thomas Liberty U.S.A. has yet been identified.
Liberty U.S.A. by Seth Thomas in 18-size Model 12 - EA 813C
Liberty U.S.A. by Seth Thomas in 18-size Model 12 - EA 813C
Liberty U.S.A. by Seth Thomas in 18-size Model 13 - EA 814A
The variety of dials used with Liberty U.S.A. in Seth Thomas - 18-size movements
Non-Seth Thomas Movements
Liberty U.S.A. by Ingersoll in 14-size - Model 10 - EA 519 (20-size error in EA diagram)
Liberty U.S.A. by Ingersoll in 14-size - Model 7 - EA 516 (20-size error in EA diagram)
Liberty - Connecticut Watch Company by Ingersoll in 14-size - Model 7 - EA 516 (20-size error in EA diagram)
Liberty - by Swiss manufacturer Langendorf
Liberty by a Swiss manufacturer whose identity has not yet been determined
Known sellers:
Mail Pouch by Seth Thomas in 6-size Model 15 - EA 819
Non-Seth Thomas Movements
Mail Pouch by New York Standard in 18-size - Model 4 - EA 649
Known sellers:
Montgomery Ward by Seth Thomas in 18-size Model 6 - EA 811
Montgomery Ward by Seth Thomas in 18-size Model 7 - EA 812
Montgomery Ward by Seth Thomas in 18-size Model 8 - EA 811A
Montgomery Ward by Seth Thomas in 18-size Model 9 - EA 812A
Non-Seth Thomas Movements
Montgomery Ward by Illinois Watch Company in 18-size - Model 6 - EA 457B
Montgomery Ward by Westclox Watch Company in 18-size - Model 6 - EA 918A
Montgomery Ward by Dorset of Germany
Montgomery Ward by Fritz Moeri Ltd of Switzerland
Peerless by Seth Thomas in 6-size - Model 16 - EA 820
Peerless by Seth Thomas in 18-size - Model 10 - EA 813
Non-Seth Thomas Movements
Peerless by Rockford Watch Company in 16-size - Model 2 - EA 761
Peerless by E. Ingraham in 18-size - Model 5 - EA 546
Peerless by a Swiss Manufacturer whose identity is not yet known
Peerless by Trenton Watch Company in 18-size - Model 5 - EA 865
Known sellers:
Known sellers:
Knoxville Sentinel in Knoxville, Tennessee; The Sentinel in Milwaukee Wisconsin.
Sentinel by Seth Thomas in 18-size Model 12 - EA 813C
Sentinel by Seth Thomas in 18-size Model 13 - EA 814A
Sentinel by Seth Thomas in 6 -size Model 18 - EA 822
Non-Seth Thomas Movements
Sentinel by E. Ingraham Co. in 14-size - Model 5 - EA 546
Sentinel by E. Ingraham Co. in 14-size - Model 7 - EA 548
Known sellers:
Stratford by Seth Thomas in 18-size Model 12 - EA 813C
Stratford by Seth Thomas in 6-size Model 18 - EA 821
Stratford by Seth Thomas - Dial Variations
Non-Seth Thomas Movements
Stratford by Langendorf Watch Company - Switzerland
Stratford by Shepherd & Co. of Stratford, London, England
Stratford by Langendorf Watch Company - Switzerland
Stratford by Langendorf Watch Company - Switzerland
Tribune by Seth Thomas in Open-face 18-size - Model 12 - EA 813C
No specimen of the Seth Thomas Model 12 Tribune private label movement is available.
Tribune by Seth Thomas in Hunting-case 18-size - Model 13 - EA 814A
No specimen of the Seth Thomas Model 13 Tribune private label movement is available.
Non-Seth Thomas Movements
Tribune by New York Standard Watch Company in 16-size - Model 4 - EA 665B
Tribune - by New York Standard - 6-size Model 1 EA 686C with fake winding wheels
Tribune by a Swiss manufacturer whose identity has not yet been determined - 6-size movement with oversized dial
Known sellers:
Sproehnle & Company of Chicago, Illinois'; The New-York Tribune of New York, NY; The National Tribune of Washington DC; Altoona Tribune of Altoona, Pennsylvania
Seth Thomas Private Label & Named Grade Pocket Watches
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