Solid 14K Gold Hunting Case Pocket Watch Waltham Riverside Men's Size 14 (1879)

An extraordinary survivor from the Gilded Age, this American Waltham Watch Co. Riverside (Model 1874) was manufactured in early 1879, making it a staggering 147 years old. What makes this foundational piece truly remarkable is that it remains housed in its original, solid 14K gold hunting case. It is incredible that this timepiece has lasted this long intact. Through 147 years of American history, including the Great Depression and numerous other economic downturns and hardships, many people would have scrapped cases like this to melt down the gold for its intrinsic value. Finding one that escaped the melting pot is a genuine rarity!

The exquisite solid gold case is a work of art in itself, featuring beautiful floral designs paired with intricate engine-turned pattern details. It perfectly showcases the masterful artistry and exceptional craftsmanship of late 19th-century American watchmaking, preserved beautifully over the past century and a half.  

Beneath the protective gold cover lies a size 14, 11-jewel Riverside movement in a hunting configuration. As one of the early iterations of what would become Waltham’s standard-bearer grade, this movement (Serial #1145244) left the bench in Massachusetts during a remarkable era of American innovation. Coming from a specific, limited production run of just 400 units between January and February of 1879, finding an example in this kind of order is a collector's dream.  

The year 1879 marked a defining moment in the American Gilded Age. It was the year Thomas Edison successfully demonstrated his first practical incandescent light bulb in Menlo Park, forever changing how the world would be illuminated, and the year Frank Woolworth opened his very first five-and-dime store, laying the groundwork for modern American retail. While the country was hurtling toward this luminous new era of technology and commerce, the watchmakers at the American Waltham Watch Company in Massachusetts were meticulously assembling this elegant solid gold timepiece. It is a remarkable piece of that history you can still wind and carry today.  

All vintage pocket watches are cleaned, oiled, and adjusted for accuracy and warranted for one full year from the date of purchase.