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The Encyclopedia of Horology

Serial-number guide

South Bend Watch Company Serial Numbers

Estimated

What a South Bend Watch Company serial number can establish, what it cannot, and how to record a date estimate another researcher could check.

Diagram

maker or gradeserialcase hallmarksimport and assay marks
Schematic: where markings are found. An outline schematic drawn to show the arrangement of the parts discussed here. It is not a dimensioned working drawing and does not depict a particular maker's calibre.

Method

Reading the number, step by step

  1. 1. Find the movement number

    The serial number belongs to the movement; case numbers are a separate, case-supplier-specific sequence, as with other American factories of the period that relied on independent casemakers.

  2. 2. Understand what it encodes

    Movement serial numbers suggest an approximate production era via published community tables; the grade name stamped on the movement is a separate specification identifier and, for South Bend, is often necessary to distinguish otherwise similar models.

  3. 3. Judge how precise the date can be

    Estimated: published South Bend ranges are reconstructions with acknowledged gaps, not a surviving complete factory ledger.

  4. 4. Check the records behind the tables

    South Bend's factory records are incompletely preserved (the company purchased tooling and, in part, inherited trade lineage connected to earlier Indiana watchmaking ventures); NAWCC-affiliated researchers have assembled approximate serial ranges from surviving documentation and observed examples.

Quick facts

Manufacturer
South Bend Watch Company
Dating confidence
Estimate only — see notes
Editorial status
Estimated

Sources & references

  1. NAWCC published South Bend Watch Company resources
  2. Community-maintained South Bend serial lookup tables (secondary reconstructions)

Where sources disagree, the disagreement is stated rather than resolved silently.

Limits

What the number does not prove

Questions

Frequently asked

Where is the serial number on a South Bend Watch Company watch?
The serial number belongs to the movement; case numbers are a separate, case-supplier-specific sequence, as with other American factories of the period that relied on independent casemakers.
What do South Bend Watch Company serial numbers mean?
Movement serial numbers suggest an approximate production era via published community tables; the grade name stamped on the movement is a separate specification identifier and, for South Bend, is often necessary to distinguish otherwise similar models.
How accurate is dating a South Bend Watch Company watch by serial number?
Estimated: published South Bend ranges are reconstructions with acknowledged gaps, not a surviving complete factory ledger.
Where are South Bend Watch Company production records held?
South Bend's factory records are incompletely preserved (the company purchased tooling and, in part, inherited trade lineage connected to earlier Indiana watchmaking ventures); NAWCC-affiliated researchers have assembled approximate serial ranges from surviving documentation and observed examples.

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