Charles Curtiss's Pocket Watch
Object NamePocket Watch
Manufacturer
Gruen Watch Company
(American (Cincinnati, OH), 1894 - 1958)
Datec. 1900
OriginU.S.A.
MediumGold filled case, glass
Dimensions2 1/4 × 1 3/4 × 1/4 in. (5.7 × 4.4 × 0.6 cm)
ClassificationsJewelry, Eyeware and Watches
Credit LineGift of Charles Franklin Murphy. In the Farm House Museum Collection, Farm House Museum, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.
Object number99.4.1
Status
Not on viewCultureAmerican
Label TextFrom the University Museums Collections Handbook, vol. 2, 2025:
The VeriThin pocket watch model was manufactured by the Gruen Watch Co., Cincinnati, Ohio from 1904 to around 1910. The VeriThin model, a much thinner pocket watch with only three instead of four layers, set the foundation for the later success of the company. In 1903, the firm formed a subsidiary located in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland, making Gruen one of the first U.S. watch companies to offer basic watch movements produced in Switzerland.
The pocket watch, first invented in the 1500s as a luxury, became a middle-class necessity by the mid-19th century. Rooted in the expansion of the railroads, train schedules standardized the keeping of time. As a precursor to the wristwatch, the pocket watch completed any Victorian man’s dress. This watch, engraved with “C.F.C.” for Charles F. Curtiss, would have been a treasured timepiece for a man as busy as Curtiss, the first Dean of Agriculture at a burgeoning Iowa State College, Ames.
Markingson face "GRUEN" Veri Thin"
Object Name: Pocket Watch with Case
William Catchpool
c. 1825
Object number: UM83.63ab
