Seth Thomas Research

Seth Thomas ResearchSeth Thomas ResearchSeth Thomas Research
  • Home
  • Lookup
  • Models
    • Model 1
    • Model 2
    • Model 3
    • Model 4
    • Model 5
    • Models 6 and 7
    • Models 8 and 9
    • Models 10 and 11
    • Models 12 and 13
    • Model 14
    • Models 15 to 19
    • Model 20
    • Model 21
    • Model 22
    • Model 23
    • Model 24
  • Grades
    • Private Labels
    • Contact Grades
    • Total Production
  • Learn
    • Dials
    • Cases
    • History
    • Records
    • Specifics
    • Swiss Fakes
  • Extras
    • Store
    • Buying
    • Appraise
    • Restoration
  • Contact
  • More
    • Home
    • Lookup
    • Models
      • Model 1
      • Model 2
      • Model 3
      • Model 4
      • Model 5
      • Models 6 and 7
      • Models 8 and 9
      • Models 10 and 11
      • Models 12 and 13
      • Model 14
      • Models 15 to 19
      • Model 20
      • Model 21
      • Model 22
      • Model 23
      • Model 24
    • Grades
      • Private Labels
      • Contact Grades
      • Total Production
    • Learn
      • Dials
      • Cases
      • History
      • Records
      • Specifics
      • Swiss Fakes
    • Extras
      • Store
      • Buying
      • Appraise
      • Restoration
    • Contact
  • Sign In
  • Create Account

  • My Account
  • Signed in as:

  • filler@godaddy.com


  • My Account
  • Sign out

Seth Thomas Research

Seth Thomas ResearchSeth Thomas ResearchSeth Thomas Research

Signed in as:

filler@godaddy.com

  • Home
  • Lookup
  • Models
    • Model 1
    • Model 2
    • Model 3
    • Model 4
    • Model 5
    • Models 6 and 7
    • Models 8 and 9
    • Models 10 and 11
    • Models 12 and 13
    • Model 14
    • Models 15 to 19
    • Model 20
    • Model 21
    • Model 22
    • Model 23
    • Model 24
  • Grades
    • Private Labels
    • Contact Grades
    • Total Production
  • Learn
    • Dials
    • Cases
    • History
    • Records
    • Specifics
    • Swiss Fakes
  • Extras
    • Store
    • Buying
    • Appraise
    • Restoration
  • Contact

Account


  • My Account
  • Sign out


  • Sign In
  • My Account

The Model 14

1890 to 1910

The Model 14 was Seth Thomas's first 6-size ladies watch, introduced to the public around 1890, just five years after pocket watch production began. It was the company's only known design with a male winding stem, which was dropped halfway through the first production run. The M14 was made with a choice of four jewel counts on plate finishes of either gilt or nickel in a lever-set hunter configuration, so open-face dials had no seconds bit. The serial number runs of the Model 14 alternated with those of the Model 15, and the factory appears to have had both the Models 14 and 15 in production at the same time, though it's not clear why since both were 6-size hunter movements.

 

Grade Lookup and Totals

Click on the charts below for more detailed information.

The watches logged in the Model 14 Serial Number Table are all reported examples or verified from photos.

These charts are for public use and for personal research, not for the Pocket Watch Database to "borrow".

Model 14 Grade Totals (pdf)

Download

Model 14 SN Table (pdf)

Download

Model 14 Run Chart (pdf)

Download

Model 14 Private Labels (pdf)

Download

Grade Assignment

There were three lever-set hunter grades listed in all the known catalogs. The Grade 119 was available in both adjusted and unadjusted variants, and around 1900 the jewel count was raised from 15 to 16 with no apparent change in grade designation, which was odd.


* The Grades 22, 146, and 125 have all been assigned.

Master Grade Chart

The Models 14 to 19 Run Chart

The serial number runs for the various models alternated with each other up to SN 1000000. Factory records past this point have not been found, so it's not clear which model was being used or if it was more than one. For ease of research the Model 18 is listed on the chart for these runs, since it was the latest of the models.

Manufacture Dates and Lookup

1890 to 1910

Roughly 34,000 of the Model 14 was made in five separated serial number blocks starting at SN 100001 up to 166000. The 1890 catalog was the first known publication to list the Model 14, advertising the 7-jewel Grade 46 and the 15-jewel Grade 119. Although the M14 appeared in every catalog through 1910 it's doubtful that it was in production the entire time given the low numbers, and more likely that all old stock hadn't been sold off. The male stem was discontinued in favor of the far more common square arbor somewhere around SN 116401. Many private labels have been logged, but so far no contract grades have surfaced and no two-tone variants have been reported.


No company records have survived and all date returns are based on advertising. Type in the serial number to see when yours was made.

The Model 14 Patterns

7-jewel gilt unadjusted Grade 46

7-jewel nickel unadjusted Grade 146*

11-jewel nickel unadjusted Grade 122

15-jewel nickel unadjusted Grade 119

15-jewel nickel adjusted Grade 125*

16-jewel nickel unadjusted Grade 119

The Jeweling Discrepancy

The only visual difference other than pattern between the nickel grades was that the 11-jewel Grade 122 had press-fit jewels on the upper plate, whereas the 15 and 16-jewel variants of the Grade 119 had screw-set jewel settings. A recently logged example with screw-set jewel settings clearly has bushings on the pillar plate, for a count of only eleven.

Screw-down settings on a Model 14 were supposed to have meant fifteen jewels, and the factory certainly advertised them as such, so the above example calls into question whether any of them did indeed have a count of fifteen or those with a center jewel really had sixteen. 

The Lever Brothers Watches

The British manufacturer Lever Brothers ordered hundreds of private-label Model 14s from Seth Thomas. They were all 7-jewel gilt Grade 46s with matching dials in gold demi-hunter cases, which have a small crystal in the front cover to tell the time without having to open it.


A huge company like Lever Brothers had no reason to retail low-grade watches, and since their pride in their employees was well known it's likely that these were presentation pieces. 

Period Ad Cuts

1895

The front cover of the factory trade sheet showing the available models at that time, including the Model 14. Very few ad cuts show the earlier Model 14 instead of the later Models 15 to 19.

1909

Factory trade ad.

All photos and data protected by copyright. 


© 2025 - Seth Thomas Research v3.2.18k

Seth Thomas Highlights

The rarest regular-production two-tone pattern of all, made in one block of seventy - and then never again.

Other Rare Examples