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Determine the Age of your Vintage Pocket Watch


Instructions for using our serial number look-up tables

This page contains INSTRUCTIONS for using the serial number look-up tables that are found on many of our watch company history pages. The example below uses information from the American Waltham Watch Company, but that is just an example. You should consult the serial number table for the specific brand of watch movement you are trying to date by selecting a company from the menu on the left.

Not all vintage watches can be dated using the serial number. Some American watch brands did not use a consistent series of serial numbers, but most of the big manufacturers did. Most vintage Swiss pocket watches did NOT have serial numbers and can't be dated by this method.


Can't find YOUR exact serial number in our lookup tables?

Many watch companies made hundreds of thousands of watches, and some companies made millions of watches! It would be impractical to list the individual serial numbers of EVERY watch made... that would make some really long pages! Our serial number tables list RANGES of serial numbers. So to determine when your watch was manufactured, you will need to find where your serial number fits within the range of numbers.


Serial number look-up example:

Let's say you have a Waltham watch with serial number 21,607,210 as shown in the photo below. Note that we're using the serial number from the watch movement, not from the watch case. Looking at the table of Waltham serial numbers (see example below), you can see that number 20,900,000 was made in 1917 and 21,800,000 was made in 1918 (marked in red in the table below). Since your serial number falls between those two numbers, you know that your watch was made in 1917 or 1918.


Not sure which serial number to use?

You must use the serial number from the MOVEMENT of the watch... the working part with the wheels and gears... not the serial number from the watch case. Cases and watches were often made by different companies and each usually has its own serial number. You usually have to take the back off the watch case to see the movement serial number which may appear anywhere on the watch movement.

Vintage Watch Serial Number & Date Lookup Tables


EXAMPLE SERIAL NUMBER LOOK-UP:
American Waltham Watch Company

Approximate Serial Numbers and Production Dates

YearS/N
185250
1853400
18541000
18552500
18564000
18576000
185810,000
185915,000
186020,000
186130,000
186245,000
186365,000
1864110,000
1865180,000
1866260,000
1867330,000
1868410,000
1869460,000
1870500,000
1871540,000
1872590,000
1873680,000
1874730,000
1875810,000
1876910,000
18771,000,000
18781,150,000
18791,350,000
18801,500,000
18811,670,000
18821,835,000
18832,000,000
18842,350,000
18852,650,000
18863,000,000
18873,400,000
YearS/N
18883,800,000
18894,200,000
18904,700,000
18915,200,000
18925,800,000
18936,300,000
18946,700,000
18957,100,000
18967,450,000
18978,100,000
18988,400,000
18999,000,000
19009,500,000
190110,200,000
190211,100,000
190312,100,000
190413,500,000
190514,300,000
190614,700,000
190715,500,000
190816,400,000
190917,600,000
191017,900,000
191118,100,000
191218,200,000
191318,900,000
191419,500,000
191520,000,000
191620,500,000
191720,900,000
191821,800,000
191922,500,000
192023,400,000
192123,900,000
192224,100,000
192324,300,000
YearS/N
192424,550,000
192524,800,000
192625,200,000
192726,100,000
192826,400,000
192926,900,000
193027,100,000
193127,300,000
193227,550,000
193327,750,000
193428,100,000
193528,600,000
193629,100,000
193729,400,000
193829,750,000
193930,050,000
194030,250,000
194130,750,000
194231,050,000
194331,400,000
194431,700,000
194532,100,000
194632,350,000
194732,750,000
194833,100,000
194933,500,000
195033,560,000
195133,600,000
195233,700,000
195333,800,000
195434,100,000
195534,450,000
195634,700,000
195735,000,000
--
--



This is an example using the Waltham serial number table. Be sure to use the table that is specific
to YOUR brand of watch when looking up your serial number.

Be sure to use the serial number on the watch movement (the mechanism).
Do not use the serial number from the watch case.



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