Dueber-Hampden Watch Company

The Deuber Hampden Watch Factory - Canton, OH

The Dueber-Hampden Watch Company was an American watch manufacturing company.^[1]

History

In 1864 John C. Dueber founds The Dueber Watch Case Company in Cincinnati, Ohio to manufacture cases for fine watches. Twenty two years later in 1886 John Dueber who has been manufacturing cases for the Hampden Watch Company purchased a controlling interest in the company.  At about this time an anti-trust law was passed and the watch case manufacturers formed a boycott against The Dueber Watch Case Manufacturing Company. So, in 1888 John Dueber bought the Hampden Watch Company in Springfield, Massachusetts and moved both the companies, to a dual set of factory buildings in Canton, Ohio. In their first year in Canton, the combined firms employ 2,300 of Cantons population of 26,337.

19th Century trade card for the company.

The arrival of the Dueber Watch Case Manufacturing Company and The Hampden Watch Company  started an immense growth period for Canton, almost doubling the population. The building of both the watch and case factories created the growth of eleven lumber yards and the ripple effect of all the housing that was needed for the employees and their families.

By 1890, the company was producing quality watches, and introduced the first size 16, 23 jewel movement made in America. Fast forward to 1923 The Dueber Watch Case Manufacturing Company and The Hampden Watch Company are legally merged to become The Dueber-Hampden Watch Company.Shortly thereafter in 1925, John  Dueber sells The Dueber-Hampden Watch Company to Walter Vrettman. Unfortunately in 1927 The companies falling sales lead to The Dueber-Hampden Watch Company going into receivership.

Meanwhile, in 1928, Russia’s only watch factory was using old stocks of parts and components they could purchase from abroad to make watches. This was far from ideal and a commission was set up to look into purchasing the machinery and knowledge to build a factory. A match was found, and In 1930 Amtorg Trading Corp of Russia purchased The Dueber-Hampden Watch Company together with all of the manufacturing equipment, parts on hand and work in progress in order to build a factory in Russia. 28 boxcars of machinery left Canton, Ohio together with 21 Dueber Hampden employees to teach the Russians the craft of watchmaking.

In 1931 The First State Watch Factory produced pocket watches that are presented at a ceremonial meeting in the Revolution Theater. The Hampden pattern watch movements were called the Type-1, easily recognized by its distinct twin finger bridge layout.

As the Nazi army closed in on Moscow, during  Autumn of 1941, the factory was hurriedly evacuated to the city of Zlatoust where more than 300,000 Zlatoust Type-1 watches and clocks were made. By 1943  the Moscow factory was re-established and renamed the First Moscow Watch Factory and continued the manufacture of pocket watches, stopwatches and the legendary Type-1 191-ChS watch for Soviet Navy Divers. A very large watch whose diameter-  not including the crown, is about two and a quarter inches and which weighed eight and a half ounces.  In 1970 production of these unique Type-1 191-ChS watches was stopped.

See slso

• Poljot

References

• Gibbs, James W. From Springfield to Moscow: The Complete Dueber-Hampden Story.
• The Watch Factories of America Past and Present by Henry G. Abbott
• Howe, Henry. Historical Collections of Ohio. Columbus, OH: Henry Howe & Son, 1891
• "The Watch Trade War." The New York Times. 10 April 1895