Can anyone give me information on Alert watch cases? Did these cases house railroad movements, and if so, exclusively? I would love to see an old ad for Alert watch cases. Jerry Treiman, can you assist?

have found little reference to these cases... not in ehrhardt trademark book unless i overlooked it..

there is a reference on the nawcc site if a search is performed.... but you have to scroll thru a couple of pages of returns to get to it..

it was a one reply post... to the effect these were a brass case..

Stephanie,
The only information I could get, was on the Medical Alert Watches, and there are a lot of them. I didn't see anything else at all.
Can you show the case? Maybe that would help.

This shows one made by Citizens, but there were other makers too.

http://www.milnejewelry.com/Doc_Tock/watch07.html

This one is a list of several of them.

http://www.milnejewelry.com/Doc_Tock/contents.html

Hi Terry,
Thanks for your search. After I read your post, I went to the green board and found little info, if any.

Hi Sheila,
Thanks for your help. I too did a Google search and came up with the same info as you.

I wish there were more info regarding antique watch cases, manufactures, which cases were used for all of our antique pocket watches, to include railroad watches as well. Guess I'm looking for concrete information that just ain't there.

i do not have a copy of the Niebling book, but that may be another source.....

Stephanie,
I have dozens of hallmark, makers marks, and other books, and with a picture, I may be able to connect it to something, if you can post a picture of it, maybe I can find out a little bit more about it.
Can you tell me if it's gold or silver, or what color it is?
Now, I'm curious too!

I found it! (or one named Alert)

Hardinge Brothers, Chicago, IL

Trademark issued May 21, 1912
Claims: Watchmens Clocks

Here's a little something about the Company!


The business of Hardinge Brothers was started on 23 July 1890 by Henry H. Hardinge and Franklin Hardinge who were natives of Canada. Henry had started his engineering career as a machinist with the John Abell Company of Woodbridge in Ontario who manufactured portable engines and farm threshing devices. He then travelled to the United States working at various jobs until he was taken on as a draftsman in Chicago with a firm already employing his brother as an apprentice; Franklin however served only two years of his original apprenticeship before leaving to continue his studies with a watchmaker. After completing his indentures Franklin and his bother started their first business venture as Hardinge Brothers making watchmakers' tools in an eight-by-eight building at the rear of a boarding house at 359 West Monroe Street, Chicago. Driven out of their inadequate premises by cold weather the two brothers found a backer in the form of a Mr. Stephen R. Dale and founded a firm known as The Horological Tool Company that operated from what could have been a hardly more salubrious room over a horse stable at 1230 Dunning Street (later Altgeld Street). In May 1892 the Hardinge Company were doing well enough to afford the erection of a small factory at 3135 Lincoln Avenue where they remained until 1913 before moving to new and larger premises at 4149 Ravenswood. Avenue, Ravenewood. In 1894 Mr. Dale had withdrawn his interest in the company and the two bothers reverted to their original title of Hardinge Brothers; however, just one year later, in 1895 Henry withdrew from the partnership (though what prompted this move is unknown) and Franklin continued on his own until 1908 when the company was incorporated for $100,000 under the laws of Illinois. In 1902 (or thereabouts) Hardinge acquired the rights to the Cataract range of Precision bench lathes formerly produced by the Cataract Tool and Bicycle Company (named after the waterfalls visible from the factory grounds) and the Cataract Tool and Optical Company the latter being incorporated in Buffalo (New York).
In the early years of the 20th century the organisation continued to grow and in 1913 a further move was made to 1770 Berteau Avenue, though administrative offices were retained at the Ravenswood Avenue site.
At around the time that Hardinge were settling into their Ravenswood works a small company was being established in Rochester, New York, by Mr. Reisinger and Mr. McDonnell, to exploit the growing market for precision work-holding devices, especially collets. The new company's unique selling point was their "inanout" collet, a design that unfortunately proved inadequate under service conditions and was abandoned; the awkward name stuck however and the "Inanout Collet Manufacturing Company" was born. Franklin was an accomplished engineer and inventor and contributed to work on a calculating machine for Remmington, helped the Stromberg Carlson Company with their early developments on automatic telephones systems and developed the "scoring" machine that perforated card so that it could be easily torn where needed.
After Reisinger dropped out of the company McDonnell went into partnership with Mr. Leon Morrison and formed the Morrison Machine Products Company; in 1925 the company was purchased by Mr. Evans and Mr. Anderson and relocated to Elmira, New York. In 1931, at the height of the depression, Hardinge were in receivership and Anderson and Evans took advantage of the very low stock prices and bought them out; they then consolidated their interests by relocating them from Chicago to join their New York operation. To improve efficiency a new factory and offices were built and by 1938, with the company employing 300 skilled workers, they were well positioned to take advantage of the great upturn in production that preceded the United States entry into World War Two.
In the mid 1930s a British manufacturing subsidiary was organised with help from a firm based in the west of London, Automotive Engineering Ltd. The new company, Hardinge Machine Tools Ltd. was formed on the 3rd of February, 1937; 85% of the stock was owned by Automotive Engineering and the first six employees worked from the corner of a factory in Twickenham making collets, form tools and feed fingers. In line with the American company the war years saw a dramatic growth in output and in 1940 the company moved into a propose-built factory at Hanworth, in Middlesex together with a temporary "shadow" factory in nearby Acton as demand for munitions, which the company were now making, grew still further. In 1943 Automotive Engineering was taken over by Sheepbridge Engineering who then sold part of the Hardinge UK equity to Hardinge Brothers Inc. through they still retained enough stock to maintain a controlling interest in the company. The late 1940s saw the introduction of the first HLV lathe, notable not just for its outstanding precision but also a variable-speed headstock and an independently-controlled , electrical power-sliding feed to the carriage. In order to promote the new lathe, and demonstrate its unique properties to potential customers, a war-time ambulance was converted into a demonstration van able to hold three lathes and their tooling. Production was relocated to Exeter in 1966 following the compulsory purchase for development of the original factory site (though sales and Administration continued to be operated from there until 1972); in 1979 Sheepbridge Engineering was bought by GKN who, two years later, sold the remaining (and majority) shareholding to Hardinge Brothers Inc. In 1977 Hardinge UK moved to new premises at Matford Park in Exeter.
In 1983 the company launched its first CNC machine, the Model HXL; although originally designed as a CNC toolroom lathe it was marketed as a production machine and, with a weak turret and cantankerous GE1050 control system, was destined not to be a success. In 1988 the popular "Conquest" range was launched but by 1989 the manufacturing facility in the UK was uneconomic to operate and was closed - the company relying upon the marketing of US-built machines and spare parts. In 1995, apart from the incomparably excellent (and now unique) HLV-H, the entire product line became CNC. At around the same time Hardinge Brothers Inc. acquired control of the Swiss Kellrnberger grinder company and added their products to the company's lines.

So, with this information you MAY have one of the few they made in the early years of their machine business. They are still in business and you can see them on the site listed below.

Pretty neat huh? !!!!!

http://www.lathes.co.uk/hardinge/index.html

Thanks Terry, Lindell & Shelia. And Shelia, thanks for taking the time to type info on Hardinge Brothers of Chicago.

The case appears brass or brass plated. Does anyone have a watch movement housed in "Alert" watch case besides me?

Hi Stephanie,
No problem, COPY AND PASTE works great!
No Typing at all!

Hi Stephanie - I did not mean to ignore your initial plea for info. I was very busy with work last week and only skimmed the subject-line of some of the threads. I have never heard of an Alert case and did not open the thread until this weekend. What movement do you have in your case?

Hi Jerry,
Thanks for responding!

Vanguard
model 1899
23 jewels
1901

is housed in the Alert case.