watch manufacturing founded 1850 as boston watch company founder aaron l. dennison edward howard headquarters marin epagnier switzerland key people antonio dibenedetto chairman products luxury watches website waltham.ch this article includes a list of references but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations . please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations . november 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message waltham international sa is a swiss luxury watchmaker based in marin epagnier neuch tel switzerland . it is one of the oldest watch making companies in the world heir and owner of the legendary waltham brand . it was founded in 1954 in lausanne switzerland by the american waltham watch company to provide necessary watch and movement parts which were not readily available in the usa . contents 1 history 1.1 foundation 1.2 relocation waltham international sa 1.3 waltham international sa the new course 2 waltham legendary feats 2.1 the first watch on the poles 2.2 the first clock flying across the oceans 2.3 the watch of the railroads 2.4 the watch of the army 3 notable men of waltham 4 references 5 external links history edit foundation edit the waltham watch factory before 1923 on the banks of the charles river the ellery model movement produced when waltham was still named boston watch company the waltham boxed naval chronometer 1910 the waltham type a 11 hack navigational 1942 print ad of the waltham vanguard adopted by railroads wrist watch wwi the legendary waltham model xa type 37 1927 waltham central date indicator aeronaval 1942 waltham elapsed time chonograph 1964 the waltham car speedometer clock 1102 model 1916 in 1850 at roxbury massachusetts david davis edward howard and aaron lufkin dennison formed the company that would later become the waltham watch company . 1 their revolutionary business plan was to manufacture the movement parts of watches so precisely that they would become fully interchangeable . based upon the experience of earlier failed trials howard and dennison eventually perfected and patented their precision watch making machines creating the what has been called the american system of watch manufacturing . in 1854 the new plant built on the banks of the charles river in waltham massachusetts was ready to operate . 1 relocation waltham international sa edit waltham international sa was founded as subsidiary in switzerland in 1954 and continued to produce mechanical wrist watches and mechanical pocket watches under the waltham brand . in 1976 the 40 % share capital of the company were acquired by heiwado & co. a japanese company that in 1981 acquired the total majority manufacturing and distributing waltham swiss made watches in the higher end of the luxury japanese watch market . waltham international sa the new course edit in 2011 the control of waltham international sa was acquired by antonio dibenedetto the current president and ceo . with a vast experience in the world of luxury and jewelry gained at his company tanagro corp. new york usa and a passion for watches he desires to bring the waltham brand back to the western markets and to glory of its past . the company was completely reorganized and new commercial offices were opened in milan italy and in new york usa and the new aungular aeronaval collection was presented in usa at the end of june 2014 . waltham legendary feats edit for more than a century 1850 1980 waltham was the most diffused and largest manufacturer of the world . it was renowned for its incomparable precision and reliability that allow the company to produce more than 40 million pieces in its history . since its beginnings waltham was beside extraordinary men and feats . important reference dates for the waltham precision records 1857 the united states president abraham lincoln becomes one of the first proud owners of the waltham model 1857 serial number 67613 the first industrialized pocket watch today exhibited at the smithsonian museum 1870 the first waltham railroad watches are manufactured high precision pocket watches that are selected by railroad companies in 52 countries in the world 1900 the new century begins and waltham is in search of the highest possible precision for its clocks and watches . it was the first and only manufacturer in the world that decided to build its own astronomical observatory 2 to ensure the quality of its vast industrial production 1908 nikola tesla patented for waltham watch company the first air friction speedometer for cars 1909 robert edwin peary sr. was the first man to reach the geographic north pole with a waltham in his pocket . sir ernest henry shackleton reached the farthest south latitude 97 geographical miles from the south pole . he and the rest of the team had a waltham in their pocket 1911 the marine chronometers waltham model 1910 featuring an 8 day power reserve are chosen by the united states canadian and british governments for all military and civilian ships . no other factory is equipped to manufacture such high performance chronometers in such large quantities 1911 waltham begins production of clocks and speedometers for automobiles such as ford lincoln renault cadillac and even rolls royce 1927 charles lindberg did the first trans atlantic flight . on the cockpit of his spirit of saint louis plane there was mounted the legendary waltham model xa type 37 1928 sir charles edward kingsford smith was the first man to flight from the united states to australia . on board of his southern cross a waltham model xa type 37 1928 during the second world war waltham s experience in the aviation sector brings it on board the most emblematic aircraft of the time as the f6f hellcat fitted with the cdia model ; the b 24 liberator bomber ; the legendary p 51 mustang fighter plane . etc. . . 1947 waltham manufactures the type a11 navigational watch the first wristwatch to become standard military issue for all the american armed forces in a waterproof version for the navy and a dustproof version for all the other services 1950 waltham develops the type a17 pilot watch and the wrist compass standard issue equipment for the us air force and navy 1967 the f 4 phantoms are legends of the us navy chosen by the equally legendary top gun fighter weapons school to train the best pilots in the us air force . their control panels boast a waltham type a 13a the official aeronautical clock of the us department of defense during the cold war 1971 david scott commander of the apollo 15 mission declared in 1996 he used his personal waltham chronograph during his second extra vehicular activity on the moon even if scott himself in 2014 confessed that he had made a mistake it was a bulova not a waltham . 3 1979 waltham launch the vacuum model the innovative mechanical wristwatch that works in the absence of atmosphere 2000 the success on the asian market is celebrated with the incredible radiant 2000 a model decorated with over 150 carats of diamonds and considered the most expensive wrist watch of the time 2009 waltham introduces in japan the lone eagel a chrono gmt pilot s watch 2011 waltham start a new course profoundly reshaping its vision and the style of its creations with the aim to develop an avant garde concept of watches for men 2014 after 3 years waltham introduced its new angular vision and presents a new daring aeronaval collection with 3 post modern angular designed models the xa solo tempo inspired by its xa type 37 1927 ; the cdi gmt inspired by its cdia 1940 ; the etc chrono inspired by its 13a a etc 1967 waltham xa pure titanium g5 waltham cdi eclipse titanium g5 waltham etc black matter titanium g5 the first watch on the poles edit the waltham pocket chronometer was the first watch on the poles used by sir ernest henry shackleton robert edwin peary sr. walter wellman and ernest leffingwell in their successful expeditions . peray wrote ... the behaviour of the meantime watches was particularly excellent . watches carried by men in charge of different parties on the sledge journeys over the sea ice ran for weeks without any considerable variation form each other . 4 the first clock flying across the oceans edit the legendary waltham model xa type 37 was the onboard clock of the airplanes used in the two first trans oceanic expeditions charles lindberg had it on his spirit of saint louis ; sir charles edward kingsford smith had it on board of his southern cross . the watch of the railroads edit the finest vanguard was the world s railroad watch for half a century 1870 1920 . this high precision pocket watches was selected by railroad companies in 52 countries across the five continents . it was the first watch to incorporate the up and down power reserve indicator on the dial a waltham patent that is still used in hand wound timepieces . during the golden age of railroads there were more waltham watches in circulation around the world than all other brands put together . the watch of the army edit the waltham xa model was subjected to difficult performance test since it had to be able to perform under extremely difficult environmental conditions such as vibration exposure and sudden and extreme barometric and temperature changes commonly encountered in aircraft . since the xa had these capabilities it became a standard aircraft timepiece for the u.s. army signal corps the u.s. army air corps and the u.s. navy air service . 5 waltham timepieces was adopted by the army of several countries u.s.a. canada england australia soviet union for their planes ships and soldiers . notable men of waltham edit waltham history was made by extraordinary men from creators to developers to owners or simply users henry ford american industrialist founder of the ford motor company ernest de koven leffingwell arctic explorer geologist and spanish american war veteran . charles lindberg pilot the first man to cross the atlantic ocean abraham lincoln 16th president of the united states of america robert edwin peary sr. explorer david scott commander of the apollo 15 mission sir ernest henry shackleton explorer nikola tesla creator of the first air friction speedometer for cars walter wellman explorer francesco moser bicycle champion franklin d. roosevelt 32nd president of the united states of america giacomo agostini motorbike champion costantino rocca golf champion references edit a b moore charles w. 1945 . timing a century . history of the waltham watch company . cambridge massachusetts harvard university press . p. 18 . abbott henry g. 1923 . history of the american waltham watch company of waltham mass . p. 97 . nasa . apollo 15 mission . preparation lunar eva2 mission line 142.14.22 . nasa usa . peary robert e. june 19 1908 private letter written to waltham watch company whtney marvin e. 1992 . military timepieces . usa awi press . p. 16 . external links edit waltham waltham watch factory museum heiwado & co. tanagro corp. retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title waltham international & oldid 741580905 categories watch brandswatch manufacturing companies of switzerlandmanufacturing companies established in 1954privately held companies of switzerlandhidden categories articles lacking in text citations from november 2013all articles lacking in text citations navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages deutschfran ais edit links this page was last modified on 28 september 2016 at 11 38 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and