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William Wallace Dudley |
Inside view of a Dudley Watch |
The "King" of Masonic pocket watches and the most sought after is a Dudley Masonic
Watch made by a Mason for a Masonic purpose.
William Wallace Dudley was born in 1851 in St. John, New Brunswick, Canada.
He began his career as a horologist at the age of 13 when he became an apprentice to a maker
of ship chronometers in Canada. Years after completing his apprenticeship, he moved to the
United States and joined the Waltham Watch Company in Waltham, MA, where he was employed
as a model maker.
Dudley moved around from one watch factory to another gaining knowledge and experience.
He went to Springfield, IL, where he was employed by the Illinois Watch Company.
He later moved to South Bend, IN where he joined the South Bend Watch Company.
From 1906 to 1920, he was designer and superintendent of manufacturing at the Hamilton
Watch Company in Lancaster, PA. He retired from there at the age of 69 to fulfill his
dream of establishing a watch factory. In his travels he had the opportunity to view
many watch designs and, it is believed, that he had seen the M. Tobias & Co.
watch made in England. This watch had two Masonic emblems in the workings of the watch.
Deeply interested in Freemasonry, he was a member of both the York and Scottish Rites,
the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine and the Tall Cedars of Lebanon. According to his daughter,
Dudley started working on his Masonic Watch some 15 or 20 years prior to being granted a
patent for the design.
In 1918, Dudley started to work on a Masonic watch with its bridge plate in the form of
Masonic symbols (a slipper, plumb, trowel, level, square, compasses, the letter G. and a Bible).
These emblem parts were machined by his friend, Brother Willis R. Michael.
Dudley later applied for and was granted design patents dated June 29, 1923.
George W. Adams and John D. Wood, local retail jewelers and both Masons, became Dudley's partners.
On May 20, 1920 they applied to the State of Pennsylvania for incorporation.
The letters patent was issued June 7, 1920. The amount of capital stock of the corporation
was $5,000. Property was acquired at South West End and Maple Ave., Lancaster, PA.
The original project was to design and build a 14 size pocket watch which is larger than the ones
today.
The first 14 size, 19 jewel, 14Kt. solid gold watch was produced in 1922.
This pocket watch was referred to as the Model 1. By 1923, the Dudley Watch
Company experienced heavy competition and dwindling sales of their larger watches.
Responding to the customers desire for a smaller pocket watch, they decided to
produce a 12 size, 19 jewel, 14Kt. gold filled watch which was referred to as the Model 2.
The Model 2 differs from its forerunner by having a silver colored Bible mounted
so as to cover the bevel pinion which was previously exposed.
This watch used the wheels and escapement design from the Hamilton models.
At full production the company employed 18-20 men including Arthur and Clifford Dudley,
sons of the founder. Since the manufacturing consisted primarily of assembling the parts,
the employees were all highly skilled watchmakers. Most of them were previously employed
at the Hamilton Watch Company. Depending on the style of the case, the cost of a
Dudley Masonic Watch ranged from $125 to $250. Sales started to plummet with the
introduction of the wrist watch and by late 1924 the condition became increasingly serious.
On February 28, 1925 a petition was introduced in the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia
that the Dudley Watch Company be adjudged bankrupt.
Dudley had invested all of his available capital in this brain-child and at the age of
74 he found himself out of work and almost broke. He accepted a job at the Hamilton Watch
Company as a mechanic where he continued to work until 1931, retiring at the age of 80.
On February 9, 1938 Dudley died at Lancaster, PA. Brother Dudley never lived to see his
Dudley Masonic Watch become a valuable, sought after, collectors item.
His dream that the Masonic Watch would be popular has been realized and today
his watches are considered a rare treasure by anyone fortunate enough to own one.
In the 15 years that the watches were manufactured in Lancaster, less than
2,600 watches of the Masonic design were made.
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