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The Model 1
1885 to 1888
The Model 1 was the company's first watch, initially offered to the public in 1885. It was an 11-jewel gilt 18-size lever-set movement, able to fit into the standard cases. Herman Reinecke, master watchmaker for the new factory, designed it and was awarded two patents in 1885 for some of its components. Even though quick gear trains were becoming standard, Reinecke chose to make the Model 1 a slow train at 16,200 beats-per-hour. The overall plate layout was a good one, continuing with minor changes on nearly all the subsequent models.
Grade Assignment
Halfway through production new grades were introduced, all of which would continue into the full run of the Model 3. A micro-regulator turned the debut Grade 44 into a 55, and two added pairs of jewels in the gear train raised the count to 15 on their highest grades so far.
The Model 1 Parts List
The Patent Signatures
1
The earliest one from SN 1 to roughly 900.
Single-line showing only the Jan 85 patent.
2
Reported from SN 900 to 2800. Double-line stamp showing both patent dates.
3
3
From SN 2800 to the end at 10900. Single-line stamp showing both patent dates.
Reinecke's Patents
The Model 1 Only
Herman Reinecke applied for and was awarded patents for two separate components used in the design of the Model 1 while he was in the employ of Seth Thomas, the first in January of 1885 and a second one later that same year in September. His ideas for a winding pinion with slanted teeth and a delicate click spring were unique to this watch and were not incorporated on later models.
For more info about Reinecke's designs visit the Records page.
Period Ad Cuts
1885
This is an ad cut from New York supplier R L Friedlander, dated 1885. This is one of the earliest known ads showing the price for the base variant of the Model 1, even though the movement in the photo is equipped with a micro-regulator, making it a Grade 55.
1885
1885
1885
Another Friedlander ad cut. Note that the signatures are shown upside-down from how they would really appear on the movement.
Found Buried
"I'm sending these photos because this serial number isn't in your database. This watch was a beach find, buried in the sand at Long Beach, Washington. When we got it apart we were amazed at what we found. Obviously it will never run again but at least it still exists!"
Submitted by Pam L of Castle Rock, Washington
The Earliest Verified Model 1
Serial Number 94
Single-digit serial numbers on surviving American pocket watches are exceedingly rare, and two-digit examples are only slightly less scarce. Seth Thomas watches started at #1, with #61 being the lowest reported serial number from a bad Xerox culled from an Ehrhardt volume.
SN 94 is the earliest example with digital photos. It appeared on eBay in late 2024 and was snapped up almost immediately, despite the fact that the entire balance assembly had been removed or lost by someone dumb enough not to realize that the serial number was that low.
It was also missing the dial and both the hour and minute wheels, but the entire setting mechanism, yoke spring, and ratchet wheel and cover were still there. Note the number 94 stamped on the pillar plate.
Sadly, the loss of the balance cock and wheel negated any chance of a proper restoration because the major components on most watches have the unique serial number stamped into them, including the cock and the wheel. Any replacement parts could only come from a donor, which would of course have a different number on them.
Jonathon Luysterborghs
Enter Jonathon Luysterborghs, special research assistant to the Pocket Watch Database, adroit at 7-jewel variants and renowned Seth Thomas Expert, who excels at collecting ruined examples, installing the wrong dial and hands, stuffing them into junk nickel cases, and uploading such messes to the PWDB so they can forever be regarded as quality pieces.
Luysterborghs is utterly indifferent to the details of these antiques, not caring about the subtleties of what they looked like when they left the factory well over a century ago, and is certainly not concerned about anything as minor as serial numbers, so he scavenged an entire balance assembly from a donor movement to install on #94, meaning that it is now an undesirable Frankenwatch with mismatched serial numbers.
He installed any dial that he had laying around, complete with hairline cracks, regardless of the exact style that belongs on a Model 1. He didn't bother to rotate it into position, so that the seconds hand tube is now crimped against the edge of the arbor hole. He was clearly too lazy to put on the correct hands, installing a minute hand from an Elgin.
He of course chose a junk nickel case with multiple lever slots that appear to have been hand-filed, neither of which are in the correct location to align with the setting lever (red circle).
Note that the setting lever is wedged against the right edge of one of the cutouts, meaning that the lever cannot be pulled out to set the hands.
This is truly fine work.
The earliest examples of both the Model 1 and Model 3 came in factory-marked cases with the ST logo in its square diamond, though it's not clear if they were made at the factory, which is doubtful, so they were likely made by the Philadelphia Co. Apparently any junk nickel case would be sufficient to house the earliest established example in existence, so that's precisely what our hero did.
Well done, Mr Luysterborghs! Don't forget to clear away your Harbor Freight tools from the kitchen table where you were tinkering with this molested parts movement before you sit back down for supper.
Seth Thomas Highlights
The rarest regular-production two-tone pattern of all, made in one block of seventy - and then never again.