Abbott's American Watchmaker and Jeweler

How to true a balance, repair a chipped dial, temper a spring or test a stone — the working bench-book of the American watch trade, arranged A to Z.

About the Book

1892Published
Henry G. AbbottAuthor
728Entries

Henry G. Abbott’s encyclopedia was the reference every American watchmaker’s bench carried: several thousand short entries covering escapements, springs, dials, cases, gilding, engraving, stone-setting and the chemistry of the trade.

The entries are recipes as much as definitions — do this, with this, at this heat — which is what made it useful.

This digital edition presents the complete keyed text, one entry to a page.

This site reproduces the complete text of the original 1892 edition, digitized page by page from the original printing. The book is in the public domain.

Rights & ReuseThe complete text of Abbott's American Watchmaker and Jeweler (1892) is in the public domain in the United States — like all works published before 1928 — and is free to read, download, quote, teach from, and reuse. This digital edition (its transcription, restored images, and site design) is © 2026 PhotoOpAI, and any editorial commentary we add is clearly marked as ours; the underlying public-domain text carries no such restriction.