Tavannes Watch Company Serial Numbers
Tavannes Watch Company Serial Numbers
Brief History: New York Standard Watch Company Including Serial Numbers and Production Dates 1885 - 1929 Jersey City, New JerseyThe New York Standard watch company, which also operated as the Crown Watch Company, was first incorporated in 1885 and operated in Jersey City, New Jersey. They should not be confused with the New York Watch Company, which was one of the predecessors of the Hampden Watch company. Although New York Standard made a variety of watches, it was primarily a producer of cheap watches sold under various brand and model names.
They produced watches in the following sizes: 18, 16, 12, 6, 0, 3/0 and 10/0 in 7-15 jewels. They are, perhaps, best known for offering a unique, straight line lever 'worm-gear' escapement, patented by R. This led rise to their advertising slogan: 'The watch with a worm in it.' New York Standard operated from 1885 until 1929 and produced over 8 million watches. Many of their models are quite common, while some are quite rare. Most of their production tended to be of lower-quality watches, and many lower-end models are not highly regarded by collectors.
Repairing New York Standard WatchesRepairing New York Standard watches has become very difficult due to the lack of availability of parts for repair. In many cases it is simply not possible to locate parts and repairs for certain models are no longer practical. For the lower grade New York Standard watches, it's quite possible for the cost of repairs to exceed the 'book value' of the watch. Crown, New Era and William Penn Pocket WatchesNew York Standard also produced several models of lower-quality pocket watches which were sold under the 'Crown' and 'New Era' names. The New Era models were a step above the 'Dollar Watches' of the time, but were still very inexpensively made mass-produced 7-jewel movements.
Tavannes Watch Company History
Most feature thin plates, non-compensating balances, and a lower level of finish and materials than were commonly found in many well-known American watch brands. These watches are marked 'New Era, USA' in a variety of styles, and should not be confused with the 'New Era' pocket watch model produced (briefly) by the Lancaster Watch Company, which are marked 'New Era, Lancaster, Pa.' New York Standard also produced the 'Edgemere' line of watches for Sears Roebuck Company.Pocket watches marked 'William Penn USA' were also made by New York Standard. These were also inexpensive watches, featured several models with fake winding wheels.
The winding and ratchet wheels were purely decorative. Completely non-functional as shown in the photo below. This was done purely for the purpose of making the watch appear to be of a higher-quality level than it really was.
An interesting piece of horological history, perhaps, but pretty hokey if you ask this watchmaker! Other New York Standard Watch Company Model NamesIn addition to the models already named, New York Standard also produced lower-grade watch models marked with the brand names: Bay State, Crown Watch Co, Eldridge, Excelsior, Gloria, Hamlet, Hercules, Highgrade, Jefferson, LaSalle, Pacific, Remington, Rosemere, Solar, Tribune, Washington, Wilmington Special. New York Standard Watch Company New York Standard Serial Numbers and Production DatesTotal Production: Approx. 10 Million WatchesThis table is NOT correct! This is the only published table of NYS Serial Numbers and Production Dates we have found, but we know these numbers to be wildly inaccurate.
Serial number information for New York Standard is incomplete and inconclusive. To the best of our knowledge, there are no complete serial number/date records available for New York Standard watches, and it appears that New York Standard did not use a consistent system of sequential numbers to identify their watches. Some watches appear to have a serial number, while others have a number which seems to describe size and model.
Tavannes Watch Company History
Some serial numbers bear a prefix of unknown meaning.
Great thread!I could not agree more, Cymas are usually great watches at a nice price. Their movements could be as good as JLC's ones, with nice construction and no wire spring - not true of all Cymas movements.I like their dials as well, which are most often simple and elegant. The only thing I like less is the use of rodhium plated cases, which usually do not get old very nicely.Here are some of my Cymas:9k solid gold, with a really nice movement - great finish, which I could not capture in the pic.Black gilted dial - sorry again for the not perfect pic.A simple Cyma with a classic movement.A nice - but small - 9k solid gold Cyma, with typical Cymas hands.