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The Encyclopedia of Horology

Archive · Columbia, Pennsylvania, United States

NAWCC Library and Research Center

Factory records, trade catalogues and serial data used for American movement research.

Overview

NAWCC Library and Research Center is a archive based in Columbia, Pennsylvania, United States. Factory records, trade catalogues and serial data used for American movement research.

As an archive, its value lies in documents rather than displayed objects: ledgers, registers, patents, correspondence, drawings or production records.

Production and sales ledgers can confirm when and to whom a specific numbered watch was delivered — evidence that marks on the object alone cannot give.

Diagram

12345let downstripcleanoilregulateorder of work; never skip letting down the mainspring
Schematic: order of work at the bench. 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.

Using it for research

  • Ask whether the archive issues extracts or certificates for individual serial numbers, and on what terms.
  • An extract confirms what the records state about the original object; it does not by itself prove that every part of a watch today is original.

Before you visit

  • Archives are usually accessible by written request or appointment only.