I have a Waltham Riverside Maximus. It is a 12s with 23 jewels and it is in a hunting case. The serial number dates it to 1907. Is there a way to find out what the watch sold for when it was new. thanks for any help you can provide.

Stinger

John - The Riverside Maximus movement sold for $182.25 around the time your watch was manufactured.

Here is an excerpt from the c.1910 Dearborn Catalog describing the "12 Size Waltham Riverside Maximus" movement.

Lordy mert!

According to the cost of living calculator I use, that would be around $4800 in 2017 dollars!

"Current data is only available till 2017. In 2017, the relative price worth of $182.25 from 1910 is:
$4,850.00 using the Consumer Price Index
$3,530.00 using the GDP deflator"

Here's the site I used: https://www.measuringworth.com/calculators/ppowerus/

Mighty expensive little time piece in its day!!

Regards! Mark

That is indeed an expensive movement. My paternal grandfather paid about one-sixth of that amount when, at age 21, he bought a 1908 Elgin B.W. Raymond movement (18-size, 19-jewel). He carried the watch until his death in 1974, and it was the only watch he ever owned. I am fortunate to have inherited it.

I haven't been able to find out the original price, but the 1908 Sears catalog lists an 18s, 21j Veritas movement for $35, so I would guess that a B.W. Raymond movement would have been about $30 or so. That was steep for someone working in a salt mine in East Texas, and my grandfather almost certainly paid in installments.

Thanks for the stories. I am truly fascinated about the marketing skills in the pocket watch heyday.
The competition was intense.
There was a model for every price range.
We collectors are fortunate

I think most collectors lose sight how important and costly these watches were for the buyers back in the late 1800 and early 1900s. The Maximus and Lord Elgins were way out of the reach or most but the very rich.