The Wikipedia entry for Aaron Dennison introduces him as, 'an American watchmaker and businessman who founded a number of companies.' If ever there was an understatement then that quote has to take an award because Dennison was actually a very important figure in watchmaking history and a man of never-ending enterprise. However, not all authorities have placed him in the exalted position of 'watch history hero,' and so I might have to pleading his case towards the end of this topic. Anyway, before coming to any firm conclusions, here is his story, shortened in a way that makes for a readable and concise article. I say 'readable' and I hope that you will find it so but I must warn you that by the nature of Aaron Dennison and his various business involvements, some of you may find this topic somewhat tortuous - I hope that you stick with it though, because the Dennison name still ranks pretty high in any decent account of nineteenth and twentieth century watches and their history, even if he fails to reach 'hero' status.
Engraving of Aaron Dennison from the historic collection of the Harvard Business School (pic from library.hbs.edu):
Aaron Lufkin Dennison was born in Freeport, Maine (USA) in 1812, the son of Colonel Andrew Dennison and Lydia Lufkin. Andrew Dennison was a boot and shoemaker by trade as well as a music teacher, but his son Aaron was not to follow him into the shoe business as an adult. To put it a more informatively, Aaron made pocket money as a child by carrying a builder's hod, working as a herdsman and as a clerk, and then even chopping wood; subsequently, he did work for his father in the cobbler's shop and before he was 18, he was already thinking in a business-like manner, suggesting that his father should make shoes in batches rather than one by one.
In 1830, at the age of 18, Aaron Dennison was apprenticed in Brunswick, Maine - where his family now lived - to clockmaker, gunsmith and gold/silversmith, James Cary. The young Dennison was developing a mechanical turn of mind, and even as an apprentice he looked towards improving equipment used for watchmaking. His idea seems to have involved the modification of the wheel cutting machine in such a way that it would cut a batch of wheels in one go.
Aaron Dennison must have impressed James Cary because, at the age of 21, he was in a position whereby he could, and did, decline the offer from Cary of a partnership. Instead, Aaron went to Boston to work with the most skillful watch repairers he could find, and he even worked for three months without pay at jewellers, Currier & Trott, before receiving wages as an employee there for another five months. 1833 saw Aaron ready to strike out on his own, and in 1834 he started his own business as a watch repairer.
Vintage Rolex half hunter pocket watch in a Dennison 9 carat gold case (pic from lot-images.atgmedia.com):
Aaron's first business venture in the world of watches lasted only two years, when he took an employed position in the firm of Jones, Low & Ball. During the years of this employ, Aaron was working under Tubal Hone, regarded as one of the finest watchmakers in America, and he was able to learn the methods used by English and Swiss watchmakers. Once again however, Dennison proved restless, and in 1839 he left Jones, Low and Ball and moved to New York where he spent several months with a colony of Swiss watchmakers engaged in various aspects of the watch trade. After that sojorn, he returned to Boston and once again set up his own business, repairing watches and also selling them in addition to selling tools and materials. While in business at this time, Aaron created his 'Dennison Combined Gauge' for measuring mainsprings and other watch components. It should also be noted that in the 1830s, Aaron Dennison also helped his younger brother, Eliphalet Whorf Dennison, to set up a joint jewellery business, but it was a failure, and led to other ideas for joint ventures between the two men culminating in the firm making boxes.
1840 was an important year for Aaron Lufkin Dennison, not least because he got married in that year, to Charlotte Ware Foster (1811-1901) of Massachusetts. The couple were to have five children over their marriage, Charlotte Elizabeth (1842), Alice (1845), Edward Boardman (1847), Ethie Gilbert (1850) and Franklin (1854). In addition to the wedding, 1840 saw Aaron's first serious ruminations concerning the manufacture of watches in the United States by means of machine. It may be that these thoughts were growing in strength as a result of Dennison's failure to get either the jewellery business (or the idea of a silk farm) with his younger brother off the ground, and when Aaron did finally establish a new business successfully manufacturing paper boxes for use by jewellers, the idea of mass-produced watch manufacture ultimately led him to withdraw from that company, leaving Eliphalet to carry on without him. This paper box business developed into the Dennison Manufacturing Company and survived until 1990 when it merged and became the Avery Dennison Corporation with headquarters in Pasadena, California.
Dennison-cased silver pocket watch by American Watch Company of Waltham dating to 1908 and with maker's mark of A.L.D. onside the case (pic from s.ecrater.com):
During the first half of the 1840s, Aaron Dennison worked up his watchmaking ideas and plans until, by 1845, he had formulated his decision to adopt the use of interchangable parts, rather than crafting every watch by hand. However, it wasn't until 1849 that Dennison made his first deliberate steps towards enacting his watchmaking plans when he approached Edward Howard, partner in the company Howard and Davis. Howard was taken with the idea and with capital from Howard & Davis and Howard's father-in-law Samuel Curtis, they launched the venture in 1850 - building a new works alongside the Howard & Davis factory in Roxbury, Massachusetts, for the new firm, Dennison, Howard & Davis.
Once the firm was up and running, Dennison went to England to buy parts which could not be manufactured in America, and he also wanted to hire journeymen watchmakers from England and learn the art of gilding brass watch plates. Once back home, Dennison designed and built machinery and made a prototype 8-day single-barrel watch. Unfortunately, the new watch just didn't keep accurate time, the machinery was a failure, and even with the gilding of brass plates Dennison was not successful. Fortunately, the situation was saved by Charles Moseley, a skilled machinist, and N. P. Stratton, who joined the firm in 1852. While the machinery was rebuilt, Stratton designed a 30-hour watch and also went to England to learn how to gild correctly. Finally, watches were being made and sold by the partnership.
So far in the story, Aaron Dennison has seemed to be a restless soul, acquiring as much skill and knowledge as he could and searching for a new way to manufacture products including watches, and this 'agitation' was to remain part of his make-up for the rest of his working life. Up until this point his involvement in various business has tended to be fleeting, and the fate of Dennison, Howard & Davis didn't fare much better. Although also known by the partnership title, this partnership traded first as the American Horloge Company; then the Warren Watch Company (after the general who had been killed at the battle of Bunker Hill) at which time additional finance was injected by mirror-maker, Samuel Curtis. Finally, In 1854, the company moved to a new factory in Waltham, Massachusetts, and took the name of the Boston Watch Company with Aaron taking the role of factory superintendent. At its height, the firm was producing about 30 watches per week, which surely reveals a lack of automation and mechanisation in spite of Aaron Dennison's schemes for the future of watch manufacture. Unfortunately, this move in geographical location didn't auger well and at the beginning of 1857, the company was forced into bankruptcy.
Aaron Dennison was lucky to come out of this bankruptcy alive and kicking, and from the 'ashes' of the buildings and some watch parts emerged a new watch company, with Dennison acting as superintendent of the mechanical department. What had transpired is that Royal E. Robbins, a New York watch importer, had purchased these assets of the Boston Watch Company at auction and he re-established a watchmaking concern named Tracy Baker & Company. Robbins found that Dennison was a bit too creative and lacking in application and hard graft however, and in 1861 he dismissed him from the firm for neglecting his duties and meddling in other departments. Ironically, the new and less expensive William Ellery model watch that Aaron Dennison had been attempting to introduce at Tracy baker & Company now became a successful product for the firm, selling well to American Civil War soldiers. As for Dennison himself, he apparently set up a business making watch cases in Birmuingham and supplied the London office of the Waltham Watch Company - and I use the word 'apparently' here because there is doubt in my mind over this venture, or at least the early date of 1862. It has to be said that there is perhaps a bitter irony in the fact that Tracy Baker & Company, after various name changes and vicissitudes, was to finally become the Waltham Watch Company (1925), and played a key role in the mass production of watches, without Aaron Dennison, who was one of the most ardent advocates of bringing watchmaking firmly into the realm of modern industrial production. It is estimated that this company, over its lifetime which ended in 1957, produced some 34 million watches.
Rolled Gold and Engraved Dennison watch case for a Waltham pocket watch, perhaps made shortly before or after Aaron Dennison's death (pic from mb.nawcc.org):
The remaining assets of the Boston Watch Company - those not acquired by Robbins - included most of the machinery and watches, together with some of the workforce, and these were acquired by Edward Howard who took them back to Roxbury and founded the Howard Watch Company. As for Aaron Dennison himself, he was unbowed, and in 1864 he and A. O. Bigelow established the Tremont Watch Company in Boston with the idea of assembling pre-purchased parts from Switzerland and America into finished watches. Wages were lower for the relevant skills in Switzerland than in the States, so Dennison went over to Switzerland to source and manage the supply of fine parts like balance, escapement and train wheel trains. The other components, including the spring barrel and watch plates, were sourced from America. Once again though, Dennison did not stay for long. In 1866, without the support of Aaron who was not consulted, the directors decided to move the factory to Melrose and make complete watches there. Dennison now withdrew from the business and within a few years the Melrose Watch Company ran into financial difficulties and failed in 1870.
In February 1871, Aaron Dennison moved from Zurich to Birmingham, England, where he assembled some watches using parts left over from his time in Switzerland working for Tremont, and plates from that American company. While in Britain, Aaron assisted in the establishment of the Anglo-American Watch Company, also using a combination of Swiss and American components to assemble American-style watches, and benefiting from the acquisition of machines and stock from the bankruptcy of the Melrose concern. Initially, the Anglo-American Watch Company traded in uncased movements which were sent to America for sale, but a financial recession in the States at the time made this difficult due to poor demand, and it was decided to switch to the assembly of complete watches.
One innovation that is attributed to Aaron Dennison at about this time (or, perhaps more accurately, self-attributed) is the waterproof watch case. It was previously thought by some authorities that Dennison invented and patented the 'screw button and pendant' or the 'screw-on stem crown' in 1871, but further research has shown this to be inaccurate or even untrue. There are actually only two patents granted to Dennison in Britain for about this time - one in 1872 and the other in 1874. The 1872 patent granted to Aaron Dennison was for the waterproofing of watch cases by means of having not a hinged bezel but a bezel that screwed down into the front of the case, and the 1874 patent was for an Up and Down indicator on watch dials showing what we would now call the 'power reserve'. In the 1872 patent Dennison claims to have designed his new case to be air as well as watertight, and he mentions 'packing' used to seal the 'winding arbor and push piece for setting the hands' rather than the use of a screw-down crown. In addition to this evidence, there is a distinct absence of surviving 19th century Dennison-cased watches with screw-down crowns. The use of a screw-down bezel patented by Dennison was to reappear in a slightly different form in Dennison's work at a later date - this time appearing on wristwatches. As for the screw-down crown itself, a screw-down cap was the subject of an American patent of 1879 by Ezra Fitch, who subsequently patented a true screw-down crown in 1881.
Dennison watch case from a doctor's style rectangular Nivada timepiece from about 1925-35. Note the Art Deco style main Dennison logo, but also a faint stamped mark, 'DENISTEEL BACK' and another serial number. Apparently, some, at least, of cases by the Dennison firm can be dated by their serial numbers but I do not know of any detailed list of Dennison numbers (pic from millys-watch.co.uk):
Image just will not load, but I have retained my caption as it provides useful information
Superb chronograph from Girard-Perregaux with a Dennison case, stated as being from 1957 but may be just a bit later as it uses tritium lume. This watch, like some of the others shown here, reveal that Dennison was not only to popularize watches generally but also provided high quality cases for high quality watches (pic from pinimg.com):
The name of the company was changed in February 1874 to become the English Watch Manufacturing Company or, more concisely, the English watch Company, perhaps bidding now to sell its watches to the British public. As for Dennison himself, it appears that he may have left the company by the time of the name change, but whatever the case, the firm did not have long to go before closure. The change in direction towards producing complete timepieces had not succeeded, and the English Watch Company was voluntarily wound up in June 1875 and sold for £5,500 to William Bragge. Bragge continued the business, with his son Robert, and it was finally closed on 11 February 1895, once again by voluntary liquidation. It is thought that Williamsons of Coventry bought some of the machinery.
At the time of his departure from the Anglo-American/English Watch Company or shortly after, in about 1874, Aaron Dennison set up a watch case manufactory in Handsworth, Birmingham, but the early years of this business remain a bit of a mystery in spite of efforts to uncover them. It is possible that in 1876, Edward Howard, who had previously been involved in business with Aaron, might have been an investor, and in 1879, Alfred Wigley joined Aaron to form the firm of Dennison, Wigley & Company. Wigley had actually been involved in this business right from the start, being an engraver, polisher and springer of watch cases, and from the time of his gaining partnership status until some time after the death of Aaron Dennison in 1895, the company name remained the same. Following Aaron's death, his son Franklin became a partner in the firm, and this successful company continued until 1905 when it was renamed the Dennison Watch Case Company Limited, and that incorporated company was to survive until 1967 when it failed due to insolvency and was closed down. Aaron Dennison's son Franklin was not only engaged in watch case manufacture; he, and then Aaron's grandsons Gilbert and Andrew, also founded a machine tool and a chain-making company in Birmingham.
The establishment of Dennison's watch case factory in Birmingham coincided with the opening in 1874 of the London office of the American Watch Company by Nelson Pitkin Stratton, who had joined the firm in 1852 and been made assistant superintendent in 1857. By this time, the American Watch Company of Waltham was producing watch movements on a large scale - more than they could sell in America. Because of this, the recession in the States and Europe meant that there arose a surplus of unwanted movements, and the company looked towards the export of their overstock.
One problem that they had was that the manufacture of watch cases was not as advanced as the manufacture of watch movements, with less use of automation and mechanization. This meant that it became increasingly difficult to export uncased movements abroad in the hope that English case manufacturers would be able to utilise these movements by providing sufficient cases. The English case makers could not fulfill the demands put upon them and so Swiss and then American imported cases filled the gap. In 1877, in a Select Committee of the House of Commons, Alfred Bedford then manager of the UK branch of the American Watch Co. of Waltham, stated that in that year Waltham UK had imported 5,000 cases from the USA and 18,000 from Switzerland.
A rather lovely rolled gold Waltham hunter pocket watch with a Dennison 'moon' standard case dating to 1899. In addition to the 'moon' word mark and associated marks, the watch is also marked inside the inner cover with a description legend (pic from images.bidorbuy.com):
The first major customer for Dennison watch cases was the American Watch Company (later to evolve into the Waltham Watch Company), and the fact that 1874 marked the opening of the London office of the American Watch Company is probably significant to Aaron Dennison leaving the Anglo-American watch Company and setting up his own case manufactory. Indeed, all the hallmarked Dennison gold and silver watch cases made to house imported Waltham movements had the sponsor's (often called the maker's) mark of either Frederick Francis Seeland or Alfred Bedford, both of whom were managers of Waltham UK during the 1874+ period. Neither Dennison nor Wrigley put their own sponsor marks on watch cases made for Waltham.
The more descriptive legend also found on Dennison gold watch cases, this one inside a wristwatch of about the early 1920s (pics from img1.etsystatic.com, and img0.etsystatic.com):
Evidence given to the 1887 Select Committee examining proposed changes to the Merchandise Marks Act provides some useful information on the Dennison watch case concern at the time. Intriguingly, it seems that by this time, Waltham had a concrete interest in the Dennison/Wrigley company, almost to the extent of a sense of proprietorship. At this time, the Birmingham factory was turning out about 50,000 cases annually for Waltham watches, with about 500 to 1,000 gold and silver hallmarked cases being also produced for Swiss watches ordered in order that the cases bear English hallmarks. In August 1888, the 'Watchmaker, Jeweller and Silversmith' reported that Dennison & Wrigley were making watch cases so successfully as to be able to send quantities to America in spite of the import duty levied on them. The company at this time employed about 100 hands and was lit throughout by electric light.
As already stated, Aaron Dennison himself died in 1895 but by then his company was well-established and had a long-term future. In fact, the case-making concern became one of the biggest and most successful in Europe, and it seems a shame that Aaron Dennison himself died without achieving the full degree of his watch case company's success. It is therefore necessary to extend an examination of Dennison cases to those made after the change in company name in 1905. And in this connection, it is necessary to mention the fact that even after 1905, and certainly up to World War One, some gold watch cases made by the Dennison company were stamped with the sponsor's mark of A.L.D. - referring of course to the initials of Aaron Dennison's full name. These were cases that were not made for Waltham.
Dennison made two grades of solid gold and silver watch cases, 'standard' and 'special' with the latter, oddly perhaps, being of thinner material. The company also made gold plated and gold-filled cases. Gold filled, also known as 'rolled gold' is a composite material where thin layers of gold are bonded by means of heat and pressure to a thicker core of base metal such as brass. The layer of gold to each surface will last for a certain amount of time, depending partly on the thickness of the gold, before it wears away leaving the base metal showing through. At first, Dennison cases were engraved inside with details of the process and included the expected lifetime of the gold plate as well as the length of normal wear before the base metal showed through. Later on, this elaboration was reduced to the stamping of one of three words, 'Sun', 'Moon,' and 'Star' on the cases, which related as follows to the rolled gold used:
Sun: Inside and outside layers 0.076mm thick 14 carat gold and guaranteed to wear for 25 years;
Moon: Inside and outside layers of 0.076 thick 10 carat gold and guaranteed to wear for 20 years;
Star: Rolled gold layer on outside 0.036mm thick 9 carat gold, but inside electro-plated. Guaranteed wear of 10 years.
Note that the three symbols (rather than words) of sun, crescent moon and a star were stamped on many Dennison watch cases, including some made of nickel, and these appear to be trademarks with no significance as regards case material.
Marks on a Zenith pocket watch with Dennison rolled gold case - note the word 'MOON' here denoting the standard of the rolled gold, and also the stamped sun, moon and star symbols which do not relate to the gold finish or case material (pic from mb.nawcc.org):
Until now, we have been discussing essentially cases made for pocket watches. The Dennison company, however, was quick to appreciate the growing importance of watches made for the wrist and even just before World War One, Dennison supplied waterproof cases for Shackleton's Antarctic mission. Towards the later part of the Great war, Dennison manufactured cases for watches issued to servicemen by the War Department. Most interesting about these military issue watches, which were already being sold for private use as early as 1915, is the fact that they are based on Aaron Dennison's 1872 patent mentioned here above whereby the case has a screw back and bezel case designed to be dust proof and watertight. The details of the screw fitting are not quite the same as in the patent and, In my own words, I would describe these watches as having a screw-on case back and also a screw-down solid outer case that goes over the dial to provide increased protection. As is the case with later Aaron Dennison screw-on pocket watch bezel designs, the watch has a milled edge to give better grip when being turned. Other characteristics of these screw wristwatch cases are the flattened pumpkin crown and the large diameter stem tube that is cut away at back and front to allow the bezel and the back to be screwed down. These watches were generally made in nickel, and the War Department broad arrow mark rarely appears on silver examples - these were mostly private purchases. Also, they were usually given thick mineral glass crystals even after Swiss military watches were using so-called unbreakable crystals. Wristwatch cases were to become the predominant form made by Dennison into the 1930s, with production up to some 250,000 cases a year, and Dennison was to work with Rolex and one or two other companies just pre and post-World War Two.
A Dennison military wristwatch of World War One period, together with a compass, also cased by Dennison and of about the same vintage (pic from hodinkee.imgix.net):
The Dennison screw case was used not only for Waltham movements, although the latter predominated, due partly to the undoubted involvement of Waltham in the Dennison concern. Movements by companies such as Tavannes / Cyma are found and it may be that customers could choose what combination of case and movement they would have, made easier in the case of American movements by the fact that these tended to be manufactured in different standard sizes. The Waltham movements that these Dennison screw cases were most specifically made for had typical American set keyless works, and the Swiss movements found in these cases usually follow suite.
Military wristwatch from World war One showing the Dennison screw-on waterproof case front (pic from vintagewatchstraps.com):
The watch collector will undoubtedly come across watches that bear the Dennison name as case maker, and these include many pocket watches and also wrist watches, right up until the late 1960s. Some of these watches contain high quality movements from makers such as Zenith, Omega and Rolex. It is impossible to provide a complete sequence of Dennison marks and setrial numbers here, but fortunately, the watch itself usually gives the date away by its style and movement. In addition to Aaron Dennison's passion for watches made for 'everyman', he and his Birmingham watch case company also had a good reputation for making quality solid gold and silver cases, and these will be hallmarked. I have already discussed the marks found on rolled gold cases made by Dennison, which were also an important product aimed at a slightly higher market level than gold electro-plated and base metal examples - and even nickel cases are found marked with the Dennison name.
Two Dennison-cased Swiss wristwatches, the Omega example dating to about 1945-50 and the Longines to the 1960s (pic from photobucket.com):
Having now followed and described the Aaron Dennison story, in all its complications of companies and partnerships, I am beginning to wonder what exctly makes Aaron Dennison such an important figure in the history of watches. Not long ago, I wrote and posted a topic about Abraham Louis Breguet on this forum and it was immediately evident, right from the start of my research, exactly why this celebrated watchmaker is so important. Indeed, the difference in business temperament between Breguet and Dennison is very marked when it comes to their philosophy and working history. Leaving aside a forced break of a few years during the French revolution, Breguet's working life was one of constancy where the innovations he devised could evolve within his own company's products. Breguet essentially worked from one address, in Paris, for most of his independent working life, and his influence was spread partly by the reputation he garnered for his watches and partly by the craftsmen he nurtured at his workshop, some of whom went out and established their own high quality watch companies. The case of Aaron Dennison is wholly different, and the peripatetic nature of this man in terms of where and for whom he worked makes a definitive appraisal difficult. Somehow, I find it hard to get to grips with Dennison and his ultimate achievements, but I need to so so if only to justify putting readers of this topic to so much time and effort having managed to reach this point.
Typical Yellow-coloured box for a Dennison watch case as supplied wholesale to a jeweller/watchmaker c.1910 (pic from antiquesatlas.com):
In considering the achievements of Aaron Dennison, both in his lifetime and as ramifications for watchmaking and the industry after his death, I would list them as follows:
1) The active search for a means of producing inexpensive and perfectly decent watches for the general public. Dennison lived through a period in watchmaking when the search had begun for a means of manufacturing watches down to a price, where the majority of the general public could afford one. Right from the start of his working life, Dennison was always looking for ways to make batches of goods rather than making them singly, and this led him to consider machine-production and automation wherever he went. In his watchmaking ventures, Dennison tended to skip from one to another, somehow missing out on progress that would come after his actual presence had been felt, yet his presence was an important factor in the watch industry and the furtherance of watches made for the 'people'rather than for the more affluent sectors of society.
2) The strengthening of links between the American watch industry and those of Switzerland and the UK. This achievement may appear less visible than the first achievemt on this list but it was important nonetheless. The work that Aaron Dennison did in Switzerland, England and the United States, and the singularity of his presence that incorporated three watchmaking traditions, helped to provide influence one country to another in terms of their specific watchmaking traditions and methods. Clearly, over the time of Dennison's working life, the American watch industry was rapidly industrializing in terms of machinary, automation and the mass-production of watches, and Dennison could almost be viewed as an ambassador of this new way of thinking about watch manufacture.
3) The reinforcement of the idea that the watch case is a vital element in a watch, and needs to be as durable and waterproof as is possible within the cost and price range of each model. This emphasis on the watch case is one of Dennison's great achievements and ultimately led to the watch case company bearing his name being highly successful. Dennison may not have invented waterproofing of watches, but he clearly believed that this was a vital element in the quality watch requiring innovation and specific technology. Dennison's patent was to be influential both at the time and in the future, especially when it came to wristwatches for more demanding use, such as by the military. It also paved the way for watch cases that were highly protective and were able to seal the movements inside away from dust and other contaminants.
4) The manufacture of high quality watch cases for various important watch companies. Looking at the incredible wealth of illustrative material showing Dennison-cased watches by high-end Swiss watch companies, it is clear that the Dennison case company has to be credited with being able to work with the best firms as well as those that were mass-producing cheaper watches. For this reason, those watch collectors who might not be so keen on the cheap Dennison products will surely appreciate the work he and later, his watch case company, undertook for the better quality watch companies.
It seems to me that Aaron Dennison was essentially an intermediary between traditional craftsmanship and subsequent machine-production of watches. He was trained in traditional watchmaking and was evidently a skilled repairer of watches, yet he was to act as a sort of conduit for new ideas in how to make watches less expensive and more available. In terms of watch collecting, this may not seem to be much of an achievement since collectors treasure their more horological and genuinely crafted timepieces. For the world in general though, Dennison's ideas for the future of watchmaking were to prove the way forward, and the combination of accuracy and availability has always been a vital force in the watch industry worldwide. As an additional note to this, it can be said that Aaron Dennison rarely tried to protect his ideas and his designs for machinery, and it is known that there was an interplay between companies as workers moved between them and spread their knowledge of Dennison's methods.
In terms of watch cases, Dennison was not only innovative when it came to devising means whereby a watch could be more durable and rugged but also was able to systemize the different case materials, from gold at the top, to different grades and thicknesses of silver and rolled gold coating, down to electroplate and the use of nickel and other base metals. Dennison's cases solved an immediate problem within the watch industry, whereby there was a shortage of decent cases relative to the number of uncased movements, and he was able to provide good quality cases for watches at all price ranges. He even branched out and started manufacture of cases for compasses and other silver and gold articles. Admittedly, he does seem to have rather tied to providing cases for Waltham, at least for some years, but undoubtedly Dennison and his cases were an important factor in enabling watches to be made and sold to a far wider audience than previously - not only in America but also in Britain, and perhaps even in Europe as a whole.
Gold-plated Dennison-cased pocket watch, dated 1913 (pic from photobucket.com):
Dennison Watches: Since drafting out this topic, I have discovered that the Dennison name has been re-used by a new watch company that was launched at SalonQP in 2010. I have not explored this firm, nor its products, and they should not be confused with any original Dennison pieces. I have also discovered that the Dennison Watch case Company itself apparently produced its own brand of watches for a short while, finishing just after World War Two, and the mark, 'DENCO' may be found stamped on some Swiss watch movements made for a period after about 1915. Further information on Dennison's own wristwatches would be welcome.
A very beautiful Dennison-cased touch-indication watch for the blind. Silver case, hallmarked for 1912 (pic from bexfield.co.uk):
Unusual 9 carat gold Dennison double sovereign case, hallmarked for 1912 and two and a half inches long (pic from silfren.com):
If you have a modern, battery-powered 'E. Howard' watch, your watch was definitely NOT made by the original E. Howard watch company. To the best of our knowledge, the 'E. Howard' brand name is currently owned by Lacrosse Technology which sells several models of 'radio-controlled' watch under the Howard name, often sold through ads in magazines.
Engraving of Aaron Dennison from the historic collection of the Harvard Business School (pic from library.hbs.edu):
Aaron Lufkin Dennison was born in Freeport, Maine (USA) in 1812, the son of Colonel Andrew Dennison and Lydia Lufkin. Andrew Dennison was a boot and shoemaker by trade as well as a music teacher, but his son Aaron was not to follow him into the shoe business as an adult. To put it a more informatively, Aaron made pocket money as a child by carrying a builder's hod, working as a herdsman and as a clerk, and then even chopping wood; subsequently, he did work for his father in the cobbler's shop and before he was 18, he was already thinking in a business-like manner, suggesting that his father should make shoes in batches rather than one by one.
In 1830, at the age of 18, Aaron Dennison was apprenticed in Brunswick, Maine - where his family now lived - to clockmaker, gunsmith and gold/silversmith, James Cary. The young Dennison was developing a mechanical turn of mind, and even as an apprentice he looked towards improving equipment used for watchmaking. His idea seems to have involved the modification of the wheel cutting machine in such a way that it would cut a batch of wheels in one go.
Aaron Dennison must have impressed James Cary because, at the age of 21, he was in a position whereby he could, and did, decline the offer from Cary of a partnership. Instead, Aaron went to Boston to work with the most skillful watch repairers he could find, and he even worked for three months without pay at jewellers, Currier & Trott, before receiving wages as an employee there for another five months. 1833 saw Aaron ready to strike out on his own, and in 1834 he started his own business as a watch repairer.
Vintage Rolex half hunter pocket watch in a Dennison 9 carat gold case (pic from lot-images.atgmedia.com):
Aaron's first business venture in the world of watches lasted only two years, when he took an employed position in the firm of Jones, Low & Ball. During the years of this employ, Aaron was working under Tubal Hone, regarded as one of the finest watchmakers in America, and he was able to learn the methods used by English and Swiss watchmakers. Once again however, Dennison proved restless, and in 1839 he left Jones, Low and Ball and moved to New York where he spent several months with a colony of Swiss watchmakers engaged in various aspects of the watch trade. After that sojorn, he returned to Boston and once again set up his own business, repairing watches and also selling them in addition to selling tools and materials. While in business at this time, Aaron created his 'Dennison Combined Gauge' for measuring mainsprings and other watch components. It should also be noted that in the 1830s, Aaron Dennison also helped his younger brother, Eliphalet Whorf Dennison, to set up a joint jewellery business, but it was a failure, and led to other ideas for joint ventures between the two men culminating in the firm making boxes.
1840 was an important year for Aaron Lufkin Dennison, not least because he got married in that year, to Charlotte Ware Foster (1811-1901) of Massachusetts. The couple were to have five children over their marriage, Charlotte Elizabeth (1842), Alice (1845), Edward Boardman (1847), Ethie Gilbert (1850) and Franklin (1854). In addition to the wedding, 1840 saw Aaron's first serious ruminations concerning the manufacture of watches in the United States by means of machine. It may be that these thoughts were growing in strength as a result of Dennison's failure to get either the jewellery business (or the idea of a silk farm) with his younger brother off the ground, and when Aaron did finally establish a new business successfully manufacturing paper boxes for use by jewellers, the idea of mass-produced watch manufacture ultimately led him to withdraw from that company, leaving Eliphalet to carry on without him. This paper box business developed into the Dennison Manufacturing Company and survived until 1990 when it merged and became the Avery Dennison Corporation with headquarters in Pasadena, California.
Dennison-cased silver pocket watch by American Watch Company of Waltham dating to 1908 and with maker's mark of A.L.D. onside the case (pic from s.ecrater.com):
During the first half of the 1840s, Aaron Dennison worked up his watchmaking ideas and plans until, by 1845, he had formulated his decision to adopt the use of interchangable parts, rather than crafting every watch by hand. However, it wasn't until 1849 that Dennison made his first deliberate steps towards enacting his watchmaking plans when he approached Edward Howard, partner in the company Howard and Davis. Howard was taken with the idea and with capital from Howard & Davis and Howard's father-in-law Samuel Curtis, they launched the venture in 1850 - building a new works alongside the Howard & Davis factory in Roxbury, Massachusetts, for the new firm, Dennison, Howard & Davis.
Once the firm was up and running, Dennison went to England to buy parts which could not be manufactured in America, and he also wanted to hire journeymen watchmakers from England and learn the art of gilding brass watch plates. Once back home, Dennison designed and built machinery and made a prototype 8-day single-barrel watch. Unfortunately, the new watch just didn't keep accurate time, the machinery was a failure, and even with the gilding of brass plates Dennison was not successful. Fortunately, the situation was saved by Charles Moseley, a skilled machinist, and N. P. Stratton, who joined the firm in 1852. While the machinery was rebuilt, Stratton designed a 30-hour watch and also went to England to learn how to gild correctly. Finally, watches were being made and sold by the partnership.
So far in the story, Aaron Dennison has seemed to be a restless soul, acquiring as much skill and knowledge as he could and searching for a new way to manufacture products including watches, and this 'agitation' was to remain part of his make-up for the rest of his working life. Up until this point his involvement in various business has tended to be fleeting, and the fate of Dennison, Howard & Davis didn't fare much better. Although also known by the partnership title, this partnership traded first as the American Horloge Company; then the Warren Watch Company (after the general who had been killed at the battle of Bunker Hill) at which time additional finance was injected by mirror-maker, Samuel Curtis. Finally, In 1854, the company moved to a new factory in Waltham, Massachusetts, and took the name of the Boston Watch Company with Aaron taking the role of factory superintendent. At its height, the firm was producing about 30 watches per week, which surely reveals a lack of automation and mechanisation in spite of Aaron Dennison's schemes for the future of watch manufacture. Unfortunately, this move in geographical location didn't auger well and at the beginning of 1857, the company was forced into bankruptcy.
Aaron Dennison was lucky to come out of this bankruptcy alive and kicking, and from the 'ashes' of the buildings and some watch parts emerged a new watch company, with Dennison acting as superintendent of the mechanical department. What had transpired is that Royal E. Robbins, a New York watch importer, had purchased these assets of the Boston Watch Company at auction and he re-established a watchmaking concern named Tracy Baker & Company. Robbins found that Dennison was a bit too creative and lacking in application and hard graft however, and in 1861 he dismissed him from the firm for neglecting his duties and meddling in other departments. Ironically, the new and less expensive William Ellery model watch that Aaron Dennison had been attempting to introduce at Tracy baker & Company now became a successful product for the firm, selling well to American Civil War soldiers. As for Dennison himself, he apparently set up a business making watch cases in Birmuingham and supplied the London office of the Waltham Watch Company - and I use the word 'apparently' here because there is doubt in my mind over this venture, or at least the early date of 1862. It has to be said that there is perhaps a bitter irony in the fact that Tracy Baker & Company, after various name changes and vicissitudes, was to finally become the Waltham Watch Company (1925), and played a key role in the mass production of watches, without Aaron Dennison, who was one of the most ardent advocates of bringing watchmaking firmly into the realm of modern industrial production. It is estimated that this company, over its lifetime which ended in 1957, produced some 34 million watches.
Rolled Gold and Engraved Dennison watch case for a Waltham pocket watch, perhaps made shortly before or after Aaron Dennison's death (pic from mb.nawcc.org):
The remaining assets of the Boston Watch Company - those not acquired by Robbins - included most of the machinery and watches, together with some of the workforce, and these were acquired by Edward Howard who took them back to Roxbury and founded the Howard Watch Company. As for Aaron Dennison himself, he was unbowed, and in 1864 he and A. O. Bigelow established the Tremont Watch Company in Boston with the idea of assembling pre-purchased parts from Switzerland and America into finished watches. Wages were lower for the relevant skills in Switzerland than in the States, so Dennison went over to Switzerland to source and manage the supply of fine parts like balance, escapement and train wheel trains. The other components, including the spring barrel and watch plates, were sourced from America. Once again though, Dennison did not stay for long. In 1866, without the support of Aaron who was not consulted, the directors decided to move the factory to Melrose and make complete watches there. Dennison now withdrew from the business and within a few years the Melrose Watch Company ran into financial difficulties and failed in 1870.
In February 1871, Aaron Dennison moved from Zurich to Birmingham, England, where he assembled some watches using parts left over from his time in Switzerland working for Tremont, and plates from that American company. While in Britain, Aaron assisted in the establishment of the Anglo-American Watch Company, also using a combination of Swiss and American components to assemble American-style watches, and benefiting from the acquisition of machines and stock from the bankruptcy of the Melrose concern. Initially, the Anglo-American Watch Company traded in uncased movements which were sent to America for sale, but a financial recession in the States at the time made this difficult due to poor demand, and it was decided to switch to the assembly of complete watches.
One innovation that is attributed to Aaron Dennison at about this time (or, perhaps more accurately, self-attributed) is the waterproof watch case. It was previously thought by some authorities that Dennison invented and patented the 'screw button and pendant' or the 'screw-on stem crown' in 1871, but further research has shown this to be inaccurate or even untrue. There are actually only two patents granted to Dennison in Britain for about this time - one in 1872 and the other in 1874. The 1872 patent granted to Aaron Dennison was for the waterproofing of watch cases by means of having not a hinged bezel but a bezel that screwed down into the front of the case, and the 1874 patent was for an Up and Down indicator on watch dials showing what we would now call the 'power reserve'. In the 1872 patent Dennison claims to have designed his new case to be air as well as watertight, and he mentions 'packing' used to seal the 'winding arbor and push piece for setting the hands' rather than the use of a screw-down crown. In addition to this evidence, there is a distinct absence of surviving 19th century Dennison-cased watches with screw-down crowns. The use of a screw-down bezel patented by Dennison was to reappear in a slightly different form in Dennison's work at a later date - this time appearing on wristwatches. As for the screw-down crown itself, a screw-down cap was the subject of an American patent of 1879 by Ezra Fitch, who subsequently patented a true screw-down crown in 1881.
Dennison watch case from a doctor's style rectangular Nivada timepiece from about 1925-35. Note the Art Deco style main Dennison logo, but also a faint stamped mark, 'DENISTEEL BACK' and another serial number. Apparently, some, at least, of cases by the Dennison firm can be dated by their serial numbers but I do not know of any detailed list of Dennison numbers (pic from millys-watch.co.uk):
Image just will not load, but I have retained my caption as it provides useful information
Superb chronograph from Girard-Perregaux with a Dennison case, stated as being from 1957 but may be just a bit later as it uses tritium lume. This watch, like some of the others shown here, reveal that Dennison was not only to popularize watches generally but also provided high quality cases for high quality watches (pic from pinimg.com):
The name of the company was changed in February 1874 to become the English Watch Manufacturing Company or, more concisely, the English watch Company, perhaps bidding now to sell its watches to the British public. As for Dennison himself, it appears that he may have left the company by the time of the name change, but whatever the case, the firm did not have long to go before closure. The change in direction towards producing complete timepieces had not succeeded, and the English Watch Company was voluntarily wound up in June 1875 and sold for £5,500 to William Bragge. Bragge continued the business, with his son Robert, and it was finally closed on 11 February 1895, once again by voluntary liquidation. It is thought that Williamsons of Coventry bought some of the machinery.
At the time of his departure from the Anglo-American/English Watch Company or shortly after, in about 1874, Aaron Dennison set up a watch case manufactory in Handsworth, Birmingham, but the early years of this business remain a bit of a mystery in spite of efforts to uncover them. It is possible that in 1876, Edward Howard, who had previously been involved in business with Aaron, might have been an investor, and in 1879, Alfred Wigley joined Aaron to form the firm of Dennison, Wigley & Company. Wigley had actually been involved in this business right from the start, being an engraver, polisher and springer of watch cases, and from the time of his gaining partnership status until some time after the death of Aaron Dennison in 1895, the company name remained the same. Following Aaron's death, his son Franklin became a partner in the firm, and this successful company continued until 1905 when it was renamed the Dennison Watch Case Company Limited, and that incorporated company was to survive until 1967 when it failed due to insolvency and was closed down. Aaron Dennison's son Franklin was not only engaged in watch case manufacture; he, and then Aaron's grandsons Gilbert and Andrew, also founded a machine tool and a chain-making company in Birmingham.
The establishment of Dennison's watch case factory in Birmingham coincided with the opening in 1874 of the London office of the American Watch Company by Nelson Pitkin Stratton, who had joined the firm in 1852 and been made assistant superintendent in 1857. By this time, the American Watch Company of Waltham was producing watch movements on a large scale - more than they could sell in America. Because of this, the recession in the States and Europe meant that there arose a surplus of unwanted movements, and the company looked towards the export of their overstock.
One problem that they had was that the manufacture of watch cases was not as advanced as the manufacture of watch movements, with less use of automation and mechanization. This meant that it became increasingly difficult to export uncased movements abroad in the hope that English case manufacturers would be able to utilise these movements by providing sufficient cases. The English case makers could not fulfill the demands put upon them and so Swiss and then American imported cases filled the gap. In 1877, in a Select Committee of the House of Commons, Alfred Bedford then manager of the UK branch of the American Watch Co. of Waltham, stated that in that year Waltham UK had imported 5,000 cases from the USA and 18,000 from Switzerland.
A rather lovely rolled gold Waltham hunter pocket watch with a Dennison 'moon' standard case dating to 1899. In addition to the 'moon' word mark and associated marks, the watch is also marked inside the inner cover with a description legend (pic from images.bidorbuy.com):
The first major customer for Dennison watch cases was the American Watch Company (later to evolve into the Waltham Watch Company), and the fact that 1874 marked the opening of the London office of the American Watch Company is probably significant to Aaron Dennison leaving the Anglo-American watch Company and setting up his own case manufactory. Indeed, all the hallmarked Dennison gold and silver watch cases made to house imported Waltham movements had the sponsor's (often called the maker's) mark of either Frederick Francis Seeland or Alfred Bedford, both of whom were managers of Waltham UK during the 1874+ period. Neither Dennison nor Wrigley put their own sponsor marks on watch cases made for Waltham.
The more descriptive legend also found on Dennison gold watch cases, this one inside a wristwatch of about the early 1920s (pics from img1.etsystatic.com, and img0.etsystatic.com):
Evidence given to the 1887 Select Committee examining proposed changes to the Merchandise Marks Act provides some useful information on the Dennison watch case concern at the time. Intriguingly, it seems that by this time, Waltham had a concrete interest in the Dennison/Wrigley company, almost to the extent of a sense of proprietorship. At this time, the Birmingham factory was turning out about 50,000 cases annually for Waltham watches, with about 500 to 1,000 gold and silver hallmarked cases being also produced for Swiss watches ordered in order that the cases bear English hallmarks. In August 1888, the 'Watchmaker, Jeweller and Silversmith' reported that Dennison & Wrigley were making watch cases so successfully as to be able to send quantities to America in spite of the import duty levied on them. The company at this time employed about 100 hands and was lit throughout by electric light.
As already stated, Aaron Dennison himself died in 1895 but by then his company was well-established and had a long-term future. In fact, the case-making concern became one of the biggest and most successful in Europe, and it seems a shame that Aaron Dennison himself died without achieving the full degree of his watch case company's success. It is therefore necessary to extend an examination of Dennison cases to those made after the change in company name in 1905. And in this connection, it is necessary to mention the fact that even after 1905, and certainly up to World War One, some gold watch cases made by the Dennison company were stamped with the sponsor's mark of A.L.D. - referring of course to the initials of Aaron Dennison's full name. These were cases that were not made for Waltham.
Dennison made two grades of solid gold and silver watch cases, 'standard' and 'special' with the latter, oddly perhaps, being of thinner material. The company also made gold plated and gold-filled cases. Gold filled, also known as 'rolled gold' is a composite material where thin layers of gold are bonded by means of heat and pressure to a thicker core of base metal such as brass. The layer of gold to each surface will last for a certain amount of time, depending partly on the thickness of the gold, before it wears away leaving the base metal showing through. At first, Dennison cases were engraved inside with details of the process and included the expected lifetime of the gold plate as well as the length of normal wear before the base metal showed through. Later on, this elaboration was reduced to the stamping of one of three words, 'Sun', 'Moon,' and 'Star' on the cases, which related as follows to the rolled gold used:
Sun: Inside and outside layers 0.076mm thick 14 carat gold and guaranteed to wear for 25 years;
Moon: Inside and outside layers of 0.076 thick 10 carat gold and guaranteed to wear for 20 years;
Star: Rolled gold layer on outside 0.036mm thick 9 carat gold, but inside electro-plated. Guaranteed wear of 10 years.
Note that the three symbols (rather than words) of sun, crescent moon and a star were stamped on many Dennison watch cases, including some made of nickel, and these appear to be trademarks with no significance as regards case material.
Marks on a Zenith pocket watch with Dennison rolled gold case - note the word 'MOON' here denoting the standard of the rolled gold, and also the stamped sun, moon and star symbols which do not relate to the gold finish or case material (pic from mb.nawcc.org):
Until now, we have been discussing essentially cases made for pocket watches. The Dennison company, however, was quick to appreciate the growing importance of watches made for the wrist and even just before World War One, Dennison supplied waterproof cases for Shackleton's Antarctic mission. Towards the later part of the Great war, Dennison manufactured cases for watches issued to servicemen by the War Department. Most interesting about these military issue watches, which were already being sold for private use as early as 1915, is the fact that they are based on Aaron Dennison's 1872 patent mentioned here above whereby the case has a screw back and bezel case designed to be dust proof and watertight. The details of the screw fitting are not quite the same as in the patent and, In my own words, I would describe these watches as having a screw-on case back and also a screw-down solid outer case that goes over the dial to provide increased protection. As is the case with later Aaron Dennison screw-on pocket watch bezel designs, the watch has a milled edge to give better grip when being turned. Other characteristics of these screw wristwatch cases are the flattened pumpkin crown and the large diameter stem tube that is cut away at back and front to allow the bezel and the back to be screwed down. These watches were generally made in nickel, and the War Department broad arrow mark rarely appears on silver examples - these were mostly private purchases. Also, they were usually given thick mineral glass crystals even after Swiss military watches were using so-called unbreakable crystals. Wristwatch cases were to become the predominant form made by Dennison into the 1930s, with production up to some 250,000 cases a year, and Dennison was to work with Rolex and one or two other companies just pre and post-World War Two.
A Dennison military wristwatch of World War One period, together with a compass, also cased by Dennison and of about the same vintage (pic from hodinkee.imgix.net):
The Dennison screw case was used not only for Waltham movements, although the latter predominated, due partly to the undoubted involvement of Waltham in the Dennison concern. Movements by companies such as Tavannes / Cyma are found and it may be that customers could choose what combination of case and movement they would have, made easier in the case of American movements by the fact that these tended to be manufactured in different standard sizes. The Waltham movements that these Dennison screw cases were most specifically made for had typical American set keyless works, and the Swiss movements found in these cases usually follow suite.
Military wristwatch from World war One showing the Dennison screw-on waterproof case front (pic from vintagewatchstraps.com):
The watch collector will undoubtedly come across watches that bear the Dennison name as case maker, and these include many pocket watches and also wrist watches, right up until the late 1960s. Some of these watches contain high quality movements from makers such as Zenith, Omega and Rolex. It is impossible to provide a complete sequence of Dennison marks and setrial numbers here, but fortunately, the watch itself usually gives the date away by its style and movement. In addition to Aaron Dennison's passion for watches made for 'everyman', he and his Birmingham watch case company also had a good reputation for making quality solid gold and silver cases, and these will be hallmarked. I have already discussed the marks found on rolled gold cases made by Dennison, which were also an important product aimed at a slightly higher market level than gold electro-plated and base metal examples - and even nickel cases are found marked with the Dennison name.
Two Dennison-cased Swiss wristwatches, the Omega example dating to about 1945-50 and the Longines to the 1960s (pic from photobucket.com):
Having now followed and described the Aaron Dennison story, in all its complications of companies and partnerships, I am beginning to wonder what exctly makes Aaron Dennison such an important figure in the history of watches. Not long ago, I wrote and posted a topic about Abraham Louis Breguet on this forum and it was immediately evident, right from the start of my research, exactly why this celebrated watchmaker is so important. Indeed, the difference in business temperament between Breguet and Dennison is very marked when it comes to their philosophy and working history. Leaving aside a forced break of a few years during the French revolution, Breguet's working life was one of constancy where the innovations he devised could evolve within his own company's products. Breguet essentially worked from one address, in Paris, for most of his independent working life, and his influence was spread partly by the reputation he garnered for his watches and partly by the craftsmen he nurtured at his workshop, some of whom went out and established their own high quality watch companies. The case of Aaron Dennison is wholly different, and the peripatetic nature of this man in terms of where and for whom he worked makes a definitive appraisal difficult. Somehow, I find it hard to get to grips with Dennison and his ultimate achievements, but I need to so so if only to justify putting readers of this topic to so much time and effort having managed to reach this point.
Typical Yellow-coloured box for a Dennison watch case as supplied wholesale to a jeweller/watchmaker c.1910 (pic from antiquesatlas.com):
In considering the achievements of Aaron Dennison, both in his lifetime and as ramifications for watchmaking and the industry after his death, I would list them as follows:
1) The active search for a means of producing inexpensive and perfectly decent watches for the general public. Dennison lived through a period in watchmaking when the search had begun for a means of manufacturing watches down to a price, where the majority of the general public could afford one. Right from the start of his working life, Dennison was always looking for ways to make batches of goods rather than making them singly, and this led him to consider machine-production and automation wherever he went. In his watchmaking ventures, Dennison tended to skip from one to another, somehow missing out on progress that would come after his actual presence had been felt, yet his presence was an important factor in the watch industry and the furtherance of watches made for the 'people'rather than for the more affluent sectors of society.
2) The strengthening of links between the American watch industry and those of Switzerland and the UK. This achievement may appear less visible than the first achievemt on this list but it was important nonetheless. The work that Aaron Dennison did in Switzerland, England and the United States, and the singularity of his presence that incorporated three watchmaking traditions, helped to provide influence one country to another in terms of their specific watchmaking traditions and methods. Clearly, over the time of Dennison's working life, the American watch industry was rapidly industrializing in terms of machinary, automation and the mass-production of watches, and Dennison could almost be viewed as an ambassador of this new way of thinking about watch manufacture.
3) The reinforcement of the idea that the watch case is a vital element in a watch, and needs to be as durable and waterproof as is possible within the cost and price range of each model. This emphasis on the watch case is one of Dennison's great achievements and ultimately led to the watch case company bearing his name being highly successful. Dennison may not have invented waterproofing of watches, but he clearly believed that this was a vital element in the quality watch requiring innovation and specific technology. Dennison's patent was to be influential both at the time and in the future, especially when it came to wristwatches for more demanding use, such as by the military. It also paved the way for watch cases that were highly protective and were able to seal the movements inside away from dust and other contaminants.
4) The manufacture of high quality watch cases for various important watch companies. Looking at the incredible wealth of illustrative material showing Dennison-cased watches by high-end Swiss watch companies, it is clear that the Dennison case company has to be credited with being able to work with the best firms as well as those that were mass-producing cheaper watches. For this reason, those watch collectors who might not be so keen on the cheap Dennison products will surely appreciate the work he and later, his watch case company, undertook for the better quality watch companies.
It seems to me that Aaron Dennison was essentially an intermediary between traditional craftsmanship and subsequent machine-production of watches. He was trained in traditional watchmaking and was evidently a skilled repairer of watches, yet he was to act as a sort of conduit for new ideas in how to make watches less expensive and more available. In terms of watch collecting, this may not seem to be much of an achievement since collectors treasure their more horological and genuinely crafted timepieces. For the world in general though, Dennison's ideas for the future of watchmaking were to prove the way forward, and the combination of accuracy and availability has always been a vital force in the watch industry worldwide. As an additional note to this, it can be said that Aaron Dennison rarely tried to protect his ideas and his designs for machinery, and it is known that there was an interplay between companies as workers moved between them and spread their knowledge of Dennison's methods.
In terms of watch cases, Dennison was not only innovative when it came to devising means whereby a watch could be more durable and rugged but also was able to systemize the different case materials, from gold at the top, to different grades and thicknesses of silver and rolled gold coating, down to electroplate and the use of nickel and other base metals. Dennison's cases solved an immediate problem within the watch industry, whereby there was a shortage of decent cases relative to the number of uncased movements, and he was able to provide good quality cases for watches at all price ranges. He even branched out and started manufacture of cases for compasses and other silver and gold articles. Admittedly, he does seem to have rather tied to providing cases for Waltham, at least for some years, but undoubtedly Dennison and his cases were an important factor in enabling watches to be made and sold to a far wider audience than previously - not only in America but also in Britain, and perhaps even in Europe as a whole.
Gold-plated Dennison-cased pocket watch, dated 1913 (pic from photobucket.com):
APPENDIX:
Dennison Watches: Since drafting out this topic, I have discovered that the Dennison name has been re-used by a new watch company that was launched at SalonQP in 2010. I have not explored this firm, nor its products, and they should not be confused with any original Dennison pieces. I have also discovered that the Dennison Watch case Company itself apparently produced its own brand of watches for a short while, finishing just after World War Two, and the mark, 'DENCO' may be found stamped on some Swiss watch movements made for a period after about 1915. Further information on Dennison's own wristwatches would be welcome.
A very beautiful Dennison-cased touch-indication watch for the blind. Silver case, hallmarked for 1912 (pic from bexfield.co.uk):
Unusual 9 carat gold Dennison double sovereign case, hallmarked for 1912 and two and a half inches long (pic from silfren.com):