duction of a low priced
3/4-plate, back-setting, 18-size watch to compete, it was hoped, with the
full-plate watches of similar price made by the established companies.
Nearly all these watches had seven jewels, some few had more. The
majority were key wind and set with a folding winding key permanently
attached to the barrel arbor, as in figure 21. These were named
"Lincoln" for Mr. Fowle's son, Lincoln A. Fowle,[42] and had a solid
steel balance with screws and the general appearance of a compensated
balance. A stem-wound, lever-set edition of the same basic watch was
named "Bentley" for Bentley D. Fowle, another son.[43] This had a cut
bimetallic balance and higher finish. Conventional gilt finish was used
on both of these models, although one isolated specimen found in factory
remainders[44] has a bright nickel finish comparable with the rotary
watch. These watches were designed by Chauncey Hartwell,[45] after J.
H. Gerry had removed to Lancaster, where the Lancaster Watch Co.,
organized in August 1877, was attempting to bring a line of watches onto
the market although beset by acute financial woes similar to those
building up at Auburndale. To return to our 3/4-plate watches, it may be
said that they were well made for the price, reliable, and successful
from a manufacturing point of view but could not be sold at a figure high
enough to return a profit on the manufacture.

[Illustration: Figure 19.--SPLIT SECOND MECHANISM of the Auburndale
timer, as shown in drawings from U. S. patent 220195, issued September
30, 1879.]

Up to this time, about November 1, 1879, the Auburndale Watch Co., had
existed as a private company; now it was incorporated with a book value
of $500,000, and William B. Fowle, who at this point had invested about
$250,000 (mostly unrecoverable) in the enterprise, was elected president,
and George H. Bourne was elected secretary and treasurer.

After a quantity of these Lincoln and Bentley watches had been
manufactured[46] and it had become clear that they could not be
attractively priced to the trade, the company sought a product adapted to
their factory equipment for which a constant market could be found. The
product chosen was a line of metallic thermometers.[47] Two patents,
240058 and 240059, were issued to William A. Wales, assignor to the
Auburndale Watch Co., of Weston, Massachusetts, on April 12, 1881.
Whether these patents represent the first thermometers made at Auburndale
or reflec