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The Encyclopedia of Horology

Key-wind pocket watch · United States

Abraham Lincoln's Personal Pocket Watch

Partially verified

Held by the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, the watch became widely reported in 2009 for a hidden inscription found inside the movement, reportedly added by a watch repairer in 1861 referencing the outbreak of the Civil War.

Technical facts

Winding
Key-wind, key-set, consistent with mid-19th-century American pocket-watch practice
Inscription
Hand-scratched inscription found on an inner movement component during 2009 conservation examination

Historical significance

  • Held by the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, the watch became widely reported in 2009 for a hidden inscription found inside the movement, reportedly added by a watch repairer in 1861 referencing the outbreak of the Civil War.
  • The Smithsonian's own published account of the inscription's discovery and verification should be treated as the primary source for specific claims, rather than secondary press retellings, given how widely and variably the story circulated in 2009 media coverage.

Sources & references

  1. Smithsonian National Museum of American History, published account of the watch and its 2009 inscription examination

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