Waterbury Clock Company

The Waterbury Clock Company was one of the great American clock manufacturers of the 19th and early 20th centuries, founded in 1857 in Waterbury, Connecticut — a city already well established as a center of brass manufacturing. The company grew out of the Benedict and Burnham Manufacturing Company and quickly became a major force in the American clock industry.

Waterbury produced an enormous variety of clocks throughout its history, including shelf clocks, wall clocks, mantel clocks, novelty clocks, and alarm clocks. The company was particularly innovative in developing low-cost movements that brought reliable timekeeping to a mass market, and it competed directly with other Connecticut giants such as Seth Thomas and New Haven.

Among Waterbury’s most notable products were its extensive line of “black mantel” clocks in the fashionable Victorian style, its kitchen clocks in oak cases, and its early “long alarm” clocks. The company also produced a series of novelty and figural clocks that are highly sought after by collectors today.

Waterbury was also an early manufacturer of wristwatches and pocket watches, entering the watch market in the 1880s with its famous “long wind” watches. The watch division eventually became independent as the Waterbury Watch Company.

The Waterbury Clock Company was reorganized in 1944 as the United States Time Corporation, which later became Timex — one of the world’s most successful watch companies. Antique Waterbury clocks are widely collected, with particular interest in the ornate Victorian mantel clocks and early shelf clocks.