Watch #7 is the Pitkin Brothers’ watch number 164, one of their later Hartford timepieces Among its key features, the balance cock is held in a recess that allowed it to be fitted without an extra locating pin. The pivots of the train wheels are held and adjusted for end-shake with hardened steel screws. The screws have conical recesses in their tips that mate with the conical ends of the wheel pivots. This watch also contains one of the rare instances of lantern pinions in watch making, prior to their appearance in dollar watches. Most of the Pitkin Hartford watches have window cutouts punched into their top plates, which have been dispensed with in this example. Overall, it can be seen that the Pitkin’s used an unconventional watch design that suited their simplified mechanical production methods.
After moving to New York City in 1841, the Pitkin brothers abandoned their unique Hartford watch design, reverting to a relatively standard English style ¾ plate layout. While these watches had no fusee and used minimal parts, most construction details were of conventional design.
