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The Models 6 and 7
1896 to 1904
The Eagle Series again mimicked the Model 1 for plate layout, like the Model 3. The Model 6 was open-face and the Model 7 was hunter, and the two models were mirror images of each other, apparently designed as lower-cost replacements for the earlier Models 2 and 3. They made for an excellent daily carry watch, and with the 3/4-plate design they were sturdy and easy to service. Jewel counts ranged from 7 up to 17 on plates of gilt, nickel, or two-tone, and all were lever-set. They were too thick to fit into the new snug cases and named grades were common, such as Empire State and Montgomery Ward, along with the early eagle-inscribed variants, but no private labels have been reported.
Grade Assignment
Grade assignments applied to both the Old and New Eagle models. Patterns were produced on gilt, nickel, or two-tone plates, and both of the Models 6 and 7 were lever-set. No separate grade assignment for gilt plates has been found, so these have been included along with the other finishes. No private labels or adjusted grades have been reported.
The Old Eagle Mystery
All of the period catalogs advertise the Old Eagle Series as having jewel counts from 7 up to 17, but so far all of the reported examples have 7, 11 or 15 jewels. Recently one with 17 jewels surfaced, but there are several aspects to it that make it appear almost prototypical and not a regular production piece.
The Liberty Grade
The PW Database has decided to rename the Eagle grade (established as such in every catalog yet found) as the Liberty grade, apparently just to see if the public will blindly swallow it. And they have, copying and pasting the search return into their eBay listings, since most people will evidently believe anything found on that site without question. The real Liberty was of course a grade within the Model 12 family with its own marked dial that had nothing to do with the Eagle line.
Comically, the Database lists the production total of the Grade 36 at *precisely* 17,934 in 16 runs, despite having logged only a handful. So far the data shows 51 separate runs of nickel 7-jewel Old Eagles for a rough total of 41,500 pieces, or just under 30% of the overall output.
Always check multiple sources when doing research.
The Eagle Series Contract Grades
Diamond
Empire State
Diamond
7-jewel nickel Models 6 and 7 w/ fancy dial
Empire State
Empire State
Empire State
7-jewel nickel Models 6 and 7 w/ fancy dial
Montgomery Ward
Montgomery Ward
Montgomery Ward
11-jewel two-tone Models 6 & 7 w/ matching dial for Chicago retailer Montgomery Ward
Yale
Montgomery Ward
Montgomery Ward
7-jewel nickel Models 6 and 7
The M6 & 7 Damask Patterns
7-jewel gilt Grade 36
7-jewel nickel Grade 36
11-jewel two-tone Grade 106
11-jewel two-tone Grade 106
The 17-jewel Variants
The only reported Old Eagle with seventeen jewels is full of contrasts, and may not be a regular production piece. For one thing, it's nickel, whereas all of the other jewel counts were available in two-tone, and the pattern is identical to a standard 7-jewel Grade 36. The plate jewel settings are larger than those of any other model, the balance cap jewel is press-fit and not screwed down, and there is no marked jewel count. The biggest tip-off may be the regulator, which is simple and there are no empty mounting holes for a gooseneck spring. The balance wheel does not have any meantime screws, and the hairspring is flat and not a Breguet, which was in use by then on the Model 5. The dial appears to be original and is a simple black-only pressed one, and all of the screws under the dial and between the plates are rough without polished heads.
The SN is also fairly late and near the end of production at SN 647600. This is very likely an up-jeweled 7-jewel Grade 36.
The Eagle Movements
The Eagle line debuted with double-marked movements and the distinctive open-kite hands, which are fairly scarce. The nickel patterns were simple ones, with an eagle engraved in one of three sizes on blank plates or the smallest eagle with the factory signature, along with a matching fancy dial in choices of either pink or blue, available on both models.
Blue dial without signature
Pink dial with signature
Blue dial with signature
Model 6 with the smallest eagle
Model 7 with the medium eagle
Model 6 with the largest eagle
Garden City
Lapp & Flershem
This Chicago wholesaler billed itself as The Busiest House in America on its catalog cover, selling only to retailers but not everyday citizens - the middleman scheme already firmly entrenched. They carried a short list of 6 and 18-size 7-jewel watches under the name of Garden City, made by Seth Thomas. Very few examples have been reported.
The Signatures
So far several marked dials have been reported on plain movements, as well as Eagle-series movements marked Garden City with plain dials, but no double-marked watches have turned up yet. These movements carry the letters BHA; what this stands for is not known.
The Companion
Travel Clock
Seth Thomas offered a simple 7-jewel travel clock containing either a Model 6 with a flat hairspring or a Model 8 with a Breguet hairspring in a leather-wrapped metal case that was available in several color choices. The factory listed its top-grain leathers as lizard, alligator and seal with second-quality hides of pig and morocco in half a dozen colors.
The movements that were used for the Companion were not standard pendant-set or lever-set movements right off the production line. They were a true pin-set movement, which is what the push button on the left side of the case was for. The pillar plate underwent several more milling procedures, using additional components from a separate parts list. The standard yoke was used under the dial but without a shuttle of any kind on the right side.
Example shown below contributed by Jacobe C of Garland, Texas
Setting Lever
Milled Pin Slot
Milled Pin Slot
A circular depression was milled for a cam-shaped lever, which disengaged the yoke from the ratchet wheel when pushed.
Milled Pin Slot
Milled Pin Slot
Milled Pin Slot
A slot was machined on the left side of the pillar plate as a guide for the setting pin, which was held in place by a set screw.
Setting Pin
Milled Pin Slot
Setting Pin
The spring-loaded setting pin in place at rest, allowing the yoke to mesh with the ratchet wheel in winding mode.
The Bicycle Watch
Velocipedes Only
Seth Thomas carried a full line of cycling accessories, including cyclometers and a bicycle watch that contained a 7-jewel Model 7 hunting movement with a compensating (cut) balance wheel. It was stem wind and the hands were set by depressing the button near the mounting bracket. The firm claimed that the jarring incurred during normal cycling would have no effect on accuracy.
Note that the movement shown in this ad cut is pin-set, just like the Companion, even though it fronts a heavy Arabic #1222 dial with no seconds bit, whereas the Companion line utilized the seconds hand.
The Banner Watches
The Banner watches were 11-jewel Grade 106 and 107 movements with specially marked dials. They didn't continue into the New Eagle Series, since no Model 8 or 9 has been reported with a Banner dial, but oddly enough the movements themselves had standard factory markings.
Like the Garden City, it's likely they were supplied to a specific wholesaler as a marketing scheme, but it is not known for which one, or if it was simply another named grade by the factory.
Period Ad Cuts
The 1904 catalog
Seth Thomas Highlights
The rarest regular-production two-tone pattern of all, made in one block of seventy - and then never again.