16-size, 21-jewel open-face railroad-grade lever movement (Model 5) · United States
Rockford Watch Company Grade 545 Movement
Partially verifiedGrade 545 was one of Rockford's 16-size, 21-jewel railroad grades: the Pocket Watch Database records it as a nickel Model 5 open-face movement adjusted to five positions, isochronism and temperature, advertised for railroad service and fitted at the factory with a double-sunk dial.
Technical facts
- Size
- 16-size, Model 5, open face
- Jewels
- 21
- Adjustment
- Five positions, isochronism and temperature
- Setting
- Lever set
- Escapement
- Lever
- Example
- Movement No. 560054, rating certificate dated August 1904
Historical significance
- Grade 545 was one of Rockford's 16-size, 21-jewel railroad grades: the Pocket Watch Database records it as a nickel Model 5 open-face movement adjusted to five positions, isochronism and temperature, advertised for railroad service and fitted at the factory with a double-sunk dial.
- A rating certificate issued in August 1904 for movement No. 560054 shows how Rockford timed these watches in positions and between 35 °F and 95 °F; Rockford's c. 1907 catalogue offered such a certificate on application.
- Production totals differ between references (see below), so an individual watch should be checked against its own serial number rather than a grade summary.
Background
According to the Pocket Watch Database, the movement was produced in nine distinct runs and was designed as an open-face watch with a nickel finish. To reinforce the precision of these watches, the company offered a certificate of rating upon application, which detailed timing deviations in various positions and temperatures. Factory adjusters used temperature-controlled boxes at 35 degrees Fahrenheit and 95 degrees Fahrenheit to balance compensation, logging positional rates until specified tolerances were achieved.
Written from the sources listed under Sources (makers, museums, auction houses and specialist publications are paraphrased, not reproduced); each statement was checked against the cited text, and claims a maker makes about its own work are attributed to it.
Later history
- Rating certificates for the Grade 545 were signed by the factory superintendent to authenticate the serialized timing data for the railroad worker.
Where sources differ
- Technical record. The Pocket Watch Database gives a total of 5,500 Grade 545 movements made in nine runs, while an NAWCC message-board discussion of Rockford serial runs cites a production estimate of 4,800.
Photographs
Photographs are illustrative examples of the type, not necessarily the exact object described. Verify details against the source file page.
Sources & references
- Rockford Watch Co. Grade 545 Information, Pocket Watch Database, retrieved 2026-11-02 (paraphrased; text © the publisher)
- Rockford Watch Company Grade 545 Railroad Grade Movement Rating Certificate, Pocket Watch Database Blog, retrieved 2026-11-02 (paraphrased; text © the publisher)
- Rockford 545 Question, NAWCC Forums, retrieved 2026-11-02 (paraphrased; text © the publisher)
- Pocket Watch Database, Rockford Watch Co. Grade 545 information
- Pocket Watch Database Blog (Nathan Moore), Rockford Watch Company Grade 545 railroad grade movement rating certificate, 2023
- NAWCC Message Board, "Rockford 545 Question" (serial-run data), 2014
- RailsWest, Rockford Watch Co.
Where sources disagree, the disagreement is stated rather than resolved silently.