Hour Wheel

American Watchmaker and Jeweler (1892)

The wheel which turns on the cannon pinion and carries the hour hand. HOURIET, F. A noted Swiss watchmaker of the eighteenth century. He worked for nine years in Paris with such men as F. Berthoud, Romilly and Le Roy. He afterwards returned to Neufchatel, and much of the rapid progress made by the watchmakers of that canton was credited to his efforts. HOWARD, EDWARD. The veteran watch and clockmaker of Boston. He was born in Hingham, Mass., Oct. 6, 1813. He served an apprenticeship of seven years as a clockmaker. At the age of twenty-nine he embarked in the business of clockmaking on his own account, his partner being D. P. Davis, and the firm being known as Howard & Davis. The firm manufactured a very superior line of clocks and regulators, and their goods soon gained a world-wide reputation. In 1849 Mr. Howard, together with A. L. Dennison, Samuel Curtis, a Boston capitalist, and D. P. Davis organized a company for the manufacture of watches. This company was separate and distinct from that of Howard & Davis, and was known as the American Horologe Company. This company was the first in the world to undertake the manufacture of watches on the interchangeable system. The first watches were made to run eight days and had two barrels. They proved a failure, however, and were soon abandoned. The factory was situated directly opposite to the Howard & Davis shop. The name of the company was changed subsequently to the Warren Manufacturing Company, and later to the