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The Model 5
1893 to 1913
The Model 5 was Seth Thomas's flagship open-face watch, as one of America's oldest clockmakers decided to test the market of high-grade railroad watches, succeeding in spectacular fashion for well over a decade. The best and most imaginative patterns came early, with dazzling two-tone and flashed-gilt reserved for the higher jewel counts. The finishes got progressively cheaper and more plain as time passed, but that didn't prevent the company from making a last run of its highest grade - the 25-jewel Maiden Lane.
Grade Assignment
All known grades have been determined from existing catalog excerpts and period advertisements. Several grades may appear redundant, as in the case of the Grade 199, which could be upgraded to the Grade 204 by simply swapping the basic single-sunk dial for a double-sunk. Since it's impossible to know if a dial is original to a given movement, the lower grades have been used in all the search returns.
Several grades transitioned from lever-set to pendant-set without a change in their designation, specifically the Grades 47, 57 and 159. The catalogs show a clear distinction between gilt and nickel plate finishes, with two-tone and flashed-gilt categorized as nickel.
Grade 182 vs Grade 281
The Grade 182 was a 17-jewel lever-set adjusted Model 5, and sometime after 1905 a pendant-set version was introduced with the numbers reversed as the Grade 281. Other than the setting function it's the same watch, and a single run could contain both mechanisms.
There is no Grade 182 "Special"
In 2022 the PW Database decided to invent the "182 Special" grade for some bizarre reason, which doesn't exist. The 17-jewel Model 5 in this screen capture (SN 234196) is listed as pendant-set, which would make it a Grade 281, not a Grade 182, and certainly not a Grade 182 "Special".
Every Seth Thomas catalog, trade sheet and advertisement defined the nickel 17-jewel lever-set adjusted Model 5 as their Grade 182. Not one of them contains a Grade 182 "Special". Other companies did make Special grades (Hamilton was one), but Seth Thomas didn't do that.
Don't believe it? Scroll to the bottom of this page and and see if any of the catalogs or period ad cuts contain the phrase "Grade 182 Special".
The Grade 510 Mystery
Several early publications list a Grade 510, a 17-jewel Model 5 that was adjusted to both temperature and position. The Maiden Lane, debuting around 1895, had the same attributes but were only marked Adjusted. The interesting thing is that not a single early 17-jewel Model 5 has been reported with temperature and position markings, so it's assumed that the factory simply renamed the Grade 510 the Maiden Lane.
Grades 47 and 57
The 7-jewel Grades 47 and 57 were lever-set at the beginning of the block up to SN 301900, but transitioned to pendant-set later along with a different regulator and signature font with no known grade change.
The Numbered Grades
The 248
The 248 was a 21-jewel lever-set nickel movement that was adjusted to three positions and present only in the first and second serial number blocks. There are two known variants, both dealing with pattern, and overall had the lowest production totals of all the numbered grades at roughly 150 pieces made. There were apparently no dedicated runs, and whenever found were always in mixed runs with the Grade 260.
The Grade 248s were all single-roller with a circle-and-rosettes pattern at the start, but in the second block that pattern would change to simple pinstripes. The earliest known example is a private label for a George Bemis (SN 207840).
The 260
The nickel 21-jewel 260 was their first high-grade watch, blocked just before the debut of the Maiden Lane, beginning at SN 205401, with a total of four variants with differences in pattern, roller and positions. Some 1,560 of them were produced in twenty-three runs, including the run of a hundred 21-jewel Olympia Special, which had the same pattern as the 260 but was not adjusted to six positions.
In the first SN block the runs were all single-roller and adjusted to six positions with the circle-and-rosettes pattern, but they also went to pinstripes in the second block. There were two runs in the final block: the first one of a hundred was again pinstripes and six positions but upgraded to double-roller, and the second run was adjusted to five positions and temperature. Interestingly, the first ten examples in this final run had no pattern, just unfinished plates.
The 272*
This is the only known 23-jewel variant of the Model 5 - in fact, the only movement with that count produced by the factory. It carries a unique nickel fish scale pattern on nickel plates and all of the reported examples fall into a single unbroken run of 200 pieces from SN 238201 to 238400, which came at the tail end of the second SN block. More than a few of them have been reported with the lighter variant of the two Montgomery dials.
* This is an assigned grade.
The 282
The 282 was a two-tone movement with 17 jewels and adjusted to three positions, so it would not have been considered railroad-grade. It was produced in eleven small scattered runs totaling roughly 670 pieces with the square center pattern, one that was updated from an earlier four-leaf-clover used on a tiny run of Grade 182s from SN 205001. It's been reported in the first and second SN blocks, usually in mixed runs with the Grade 382 and was evidently retired somewhere around SN 225300. All were single-roller and there are no reported private labels.
The 291
For years the number 280 has been assigned to this mystery grade, the only 21-jewel Model 5 on two-tone plates that was not a Maiden Lane, which was produced in four separate blocks totaling 1,100 pieces in the second SN block only. The run boundaries are well established.
A tentative identification as Grade 291 has now been established with the discovery of one known catalog advertisement, reported by Gary L of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, for New York retail jeweler Nicholas Gamse, who had an office at 54 Maiden Lane; corporate offices of Seth Thomas were across the street at #51. The ad cut lists all of the verified attributes of this grade under an easily identifiable photo showing the unique pattern, along with grade number 291.
The 382
The 382 was the same as the 282, but adjusted to five positions and was their third and final railroad-approved watch after the Grade 260 and the Maiden Lane. The first of two variants appeared at around SN 215300 with a rough total of 330 produced in seven runs, mixed with small numbers of the Grade 282. They were all single-roller and had a two-tone pattern with a square center identical to that of the 282.
The second variant had a double-roller pallet and a round center, making a five-leaf clover pattern, produced in three unbroken runs of a hundred each in the final SN block. There are no known private labels.
The M5 Contract Grades
Chautauqua
Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan
15-jewel nickel LS Grade 173
Reported so far with 15 jewels on nickel plates in lever set in the first and second serial number blocks in small runs. They were likely named for the Chautauqua Institution, located in Western New York.
Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan
17-jewel two-tone LS adjusted Grade 182
Also marked with The Accurate Timer and fronted by a PL dial for Morris Feinberg from Ironwood, Michigan. They occupy a block of fifty from SN 225451 to 225500 with 17 jewels on two-tone plates.
Lake Shore
Cosmopolitan
Maiden Lane
17-jewel nickel PS adjusted Grade 281
The Lake Shore is a pendant-set 17-jewel nickel Grade 281 reported in only the third serial number block from SN 290501 to 290900 with a matching dial. It is not known what this grade is named for.
Maiden Lane
Maiden Lane
Maiden Lane
The company's highest grade, named for the street where the firm's corporate offices were located in NY City, and produced in jewel counts from 17 to 25 on two-tone plates.
Monarch
Maiden Lane
Monarch
15-jewel two-tone PS Grade 159
Made for Rogers, Thurman & Co, a Chicago wholesaler in jewel counts from 7 to 17 on gilt, nickel, and two-tone plates. This is the most common of the lesser grades, found in the second, third and fourth SN blocks.
Olympia
Maiden Lane
Monarch
Unknown grade
The Olympia mimics the Grade 260 in both pattern and jewel count but is not adjusted to six positions, occupying a block of a hundred from SN 223501 to 223600, and were made for Chicago wholesalers Lapp & Flershem.
President
Special Motor Service
Providence
17-jewel two-tone LS adjusted Grade 182
This grade is similar to the Cosmopolitan, in that all examples front a private-label dial for the Bromfield Jewelry Co in Boston. They have 17 jewels on two-tone plates and were blocked from SN 234701 to 234800.
Providence
Special Motor Service
Providence
17-jewel flashed-gilt LS adjusted Grade 182
Very little is known about this grade, other than all reported examples have 17 jewels on flashed gilt plates and fall between SN 207311 and 207340. The DS dials all have the letters A, C, O and W intertwined.
Special Motor Service
Special Motor Service
Special Motor Service
17-jewel two-tone LS adjusted Grade 182
The SMS grade has its own matching dial and all examples exhibit the same pattern and jewel count. They have been reported in the first and second SN blocks in a dozen small runs, totaling roughly 200 produced.
The Research Grades
The Railway
The Railway is a 25-jewel prototype built on the Model 5 pillar plate of SN (2)08989, though the train plate is marked with the possible date of 8.1.99. Like the Grade 262, it has a double-roller escapement that is too new by a decade to agree with the plate markings.
I had the opportunity to document this piece in June of 2017 and there are several aspects of it that indicate that this watch was almost certainly a one-off prototype, such as the outboard hairspring stud, the inverted balance foot, the star regulator, the re-milled jewel pockets on the upper plate, and the threaded holes for the missing regulator index. The fact that it carries the standard Adjusted marking and wasn't adjusted to five or six positions is also telling. The pattern is unique, but all of the early blocks of Maiden Lanes have unique patterns, which is another clue.
Courtesy of Jones & Horan Auctions
The 28-jewel Myth
For many years the Complete Guide to Watches printed the existence of a 28-jewel Model 5, which would have been the highest count of any American pocket watch produced during the railroad era in the late 1880s, based on the observations of two of its authors and accompanied by a wretched black-and-white photo.
I'm fairly confident that the watch pictured in the Guide, captioned as 28-jewel, and the Railway are the same watch. When examined in 2017 the Railway had 25 jewels: seven for the balance assembly, four on the pallet staff, four on the escape wheel, three for the 4th wheel, four on the 3rd wheel, a pair for the center wheel, and one on the mainspring barrel. There was in all likelihood a matching barrel jewel on the pillar plate, broken at some point and replaced with a brass bushing. That would have made for a 26-count, and had the watch been equipped with a jeweled motor barrel it would have had 28, but it was a standard barrel with no marking. If this watch ever did have 28 jewels it no longer does.
The Grade 262*
The American Museum in Bristol, Connecticut was kind enough to allow me access to this unique piece so it could be photographed.
The NAWCC Museum continues to pretend it has no records.
The only known Model 5 with 19 jewels is inscribed with the sequence 7-13-04, a possible production date, though it has a round sink milled under the balance wheel, indicating a double-roller pallet, which first debuted a few years later in 1909. It has a two-tone pattern with a fully-jeweled gear train and the extra pair on the mainspring arbor makes it a genuine motor barrel. It fronts a standard double-sunk Arabic dial.
* This is an assigned grade
The Early Damask Patterns
11-jewel LS gilt Grade 58
15-jewel LS nickel Grade 173
15-jewel LS nickel adjusted Grade 199
15-jewel LS nickel adjusted Grade 199
15-jewel LS nickel adjusted Grade 199
17-jewel LS nickel adjusted Grade 182
17-jewel LS nickel adjusted Grade 182
17-jewel LS nickel adjusted Grade 182
17-jewel LS two-tone adjusted Grade 182
The Common Damask Patterns
7-jewel LS nickel Grade 57
15-jewel PS nickel Grade 159
15-jewel PS two-tone Grade 159
15-jewel LS nickel Grade 173
17-jewel LS two-tone adjusted Grade 182
17-jewel PS two-tone adjusted Grade 281
The Uncommon Damask Patterns
17-jewel LS two-tone adjusted Grade 182
15-jewel LS flashed-gilt Grade 173
17-jewel LS two-tone adjusted Grade 182
17-jewel LS nickel adjusted Grade 182
17-jewel LS flashed-gilt adjusted Grade 182
17-jewel LS nickel adjusted Grade 182
17-jewel PS nickel adjusted Grade 281
17-jewel LS flashed-gilt adjusted Grade 182
17-jewel LS two-tone adjusted Grade 182
The Maiden Lane
Maiden Lane was an actual location, a street in Lower Manhattan in New York City close to the Brooklyn Bridge, where many watch companies had offices. Seth Thomas occupied 51 Maiden Lane (as well as 70 Wabash Ave and 215 W Randolph St in Chicago), printing it on several advertisements. It was one of the first streets in the city to be illuminated by gas lamps and was regarded for years as the center of the jewelry district.
The company named their highest grade after this street, introduced in 1895 as a 17-jewel model for $25, with the 21-jewel variant being offered for the same price the following year. By 1904 the jewel count had increased to twenty-five, and continued until the 1913 Centennial Catalog, when the count dropped back to twenty-one. Advertisements showing the 24-jewel count are scarce.
The Shugart Guide contains a captioned photo stating the Model 5 is a "Maiden Lane grade", leading some to believe that any Model 5 is a Maiden Lane. The plates must be marked Maiden Lane for it to be one.
Between 1,025 and 1,050 Maiden Lanes were produced in four standard jewel counts, with the rarest so far being the 17-jewel variant, with roughly 75 produced beginning at SN 205,501. Although the 25-jewel variant had the highest jewel count, it was the most common at around 720 made, and the highest-known Model 5 serial number (351716) is a 25-jewel Maiden Lane. They came in jewel counts of 17, 21, 24, or 25, with one reported example having 22, and all of the known examples have two-tone plate finishes. Unlike the earlier Models 2 and 3, the center wheel on the pillar plate was consistently jeweled, and diamond cap stones on the balance wheel and the company address appeared on some of the final blocks. All earlier variants were simply marked Adjusted, with no explanation of what that meant. The first known example to be marked for positions was SN 209780, a 24-jewel example adjusted for six positions, and all later examples after that were adjusted to either five or six positions, regardless of the jewel count. The double-roller feature debuted in the sixth block at SN 350101 and continued to the end of production. There are nine known (seven verified) private labels, having similar patterns and jewel counts as the surrounding examples. Whether they can technically be called a Maiden Lane is open for debate, but we believe it must be clearly marked to be one.
The Maiden Lane Patterns
17-jewel Adjusted
17-jewel Adjusted
17-jewel Adjusted
Earliest known Maiden Lane in any count
17-jewel Adjusted
17-jewel Adjusted
17-jewel Adjusted
Jewel count not marked
21-jewel Adjusted
17-jewel Adjusted
21-jewel Adjusted
The jewel count now marked
21-jewel Adjusted
24-jewel Adjusted 6 Positions
21-jewel Adjusted
Note the jewel count - letter J only
24-jewel Adjusted
24-jewel Adjusted 6 Positions
24-jewel Adjusted 6 Positions
Jewel count now spelled out
24-jewel Adjusted 6 Positions
24-jewel Adjusted 6 Positions
24-jewel Adjusted 6 Positions
Now marked for positions
25-jewel Adjusted 6 Positions
25-jewel Adjusted 6 Positions
25-jewel Adjusted 6 Positions
Highest-grade single-roller variant
25-jewel Adj 5 Pos & Temp
25-jewel Adjusted 6 Positions
25-jewel Adjusted 6 Positions
Patterns now identical with double-roller
21-jewel Adj 5 Pos & Temp
25-jewel Adjusted 6 Positions
21-jewel Adj 5 Pos & Temp
Last known 21-jewel variant
The Signature Fonts
1
1
1
The earliest font on the serial number chart, starting at SN 200,001 up to 209,700 and again in the 300,000 block.
2
1
1
The most common signature, appearing at SN 205,400 right to the end. A variant was used for the Maiden Lanes.
3
1
3
A block font used on the vast majority of named grades and private-label Model 5s in all five serial number blocks.
4
3
The only cursive font and a very rare one, reported so far in just the first SN block and only on private-label watches.
5
Another block font using all upper-case letters found on a few select private labels in the first SN block.
6
A Gothic or Old English calligraphy font used exclusively on the Monarch and the Cosmopolitan named grades.
The Regulators
Simple Inboard
Simple Outboard
Simple Inboard
Found only on the 7-jewel Grades 47 and 57 in the fourth SN block.
Micro Inboard
Simple Outboard
Simple Inboard
Found on the 15 and 17-jewel Grades 149, 159 and 169 in the third SN block.
Simple Outboard
Simple Outboard
Simple Outboard
Used only on the 11-jewel Grade 58 in the first SN block.
Micro Outboard
Micro Outboard
Simple Outboard
Standard on all mid and high-grade watches from the first, second and final blocks.
The Star
Micro Outboard
The Star
Unique to the 28-jewel Railway.
Period Ad Cuts
1893
Earliest known factory catalog cut. Note the presence of the mythical Grade 510 and that the Maiden Lane had not yet debuted. It is likely that the 510 became the Maiden Lane.
1894
Ad cut from retailer S F Myers, with much higher pricing than the competition.
1895
Earliest known factory trade list.
1896
A C Becken advert.
1905
Factory trade list.
1909
Factory trade list.
Seth Thomas Highlights
The rarest regular-production two-tone pattern of all, made in one block of seventy - and then never again.