From past presidents of the United States to the current Donald J. Trump, what brands have graced the wrists and vests of many?
The story gained even more attention when Marilyn Monroe gave John F. Kennedy a birthday present: a gold Rolex engraved with the inscription "JACK / With love as always / from / MARILYN / May 29th 1962." The president was thrilled, but fearful that it would be seen by the public as evidence of his intimate relationship with the actress, he gave it to his then-aide, Kenneth O'Donnell, and told him to "get rid of it." In 2005, the watch and the box containing Monroe's love poems sold for $12. Presidential history is thus rife with watch-related stories that are sure to interest any watch lover.
So, let's take a look back at some untold stories about past US presidents and their timepieces.
President George Washington
In 1788, George Washington wanted a new watch. He was in Paris on business at the time, and wrote to his friend and founding father, Robert Morris, who would become the American minister to France three years later, asking him to purchase one for him in Paris. Washington wanted a simple gold case, good quality, large, slender, similar to the one Thomas Jefferson had purchased for James Madison. Washington sent 25 guineas, offering to pay more if necessary (according to Adolph Shapiro's "Antoine Lépine, the Clockmaker"). Three months later, Morris wrote to Washington from Paris, saying Jefferson had warned him that the craftsman who made Madison's watch was a rogue character and that he should be careful. Jefferson recommended that Washington go to another watchmaker, Romilly, instead. Sadly, Romilly was no different, and Morris wrote to Washington to that effect. Morris asked a merchant for another good craftsman and learned the name Gregson. However, Gregson was not much different from the other two. Finally, he found a light at the light's edge. He found Jean-Antoine Lépine, watchmaker to Louis XVI and one of the greatest watchmakers in history. Morris purchased two identical watches, one for Washington and one for himself.
Both watches were large, simple key-wound watches with Vigule escapements. Washington's watch is numbered 5378 and remained in the Washington family until 1935. The case is engraved with the words "Remontez droit/Tournez les Équilles/Lepine Hger du Roy/A Paris."
George Washington also owned other clocks. One was a gift from Colonel Thomas Johnson, who was elected Governor of Maryland in February 1777. There is no indication of where the clock was made, but it is engraved with the symbol of Neuchâtel, Switzerland. The clock is inscribed "Trenton NJ/Dec.10th 1777/Presented to my Friend/Col.Thos. Johnson of Md./as a Memento/of my great Esteem/Geo. Washington."
President Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln wore a Waltham watch. The same model was worn by many Civil War soldiers and was nicknamed "Wm. Ellery" after the member of the Continental Congress who signed the Declaration of Independence. The watch, serial number 67613, was made in 1863. Ellery watches were inexpensive but durable, and were widely popular during the Civil War. By the end of the war in 1865, approximately half of the watches sold by Waltham were Ellery models. It's interesting to note that Lincoln's choice of an American-made watch (in the United States, of course; Waltham's headquarters were in Waltham, Massachusetts) wasn't simply motivated by patriotism. The Civil War marked the beginning of an era in which American watch companies became the envy of the Swiss. This is because American manufacturers had mastered efficient mass production techniques, and their watches were not only cheaper than their Swiss counterparts, but also more accurate.
President Ulysses S. Grant
It's unclear what kind of watch Ulysses S. Grant owned before becoming the 18th President of the United States in 1869, but we do know that he didn't wear one for long. In 1857, at age 35 and eking out a modest living as a farmer near St. Louis, he pawned his watch for $22. One biographer suggests he may have pawned it to buy Christmas presents for his wife and three children.
President Warren Harding
Fourteen U.S. presidents were Freemasons, and at least one of them, Warren G. Harding, owned a watch to prove it. Harding wore a "Masonic watch," a special type of watch featuring Masonic symbols such as an hourglass, compass, and Masonic square. The cases of Masonic watches (which came in both Masonic pocket watches and Masonic wristwatches) are shaped like an equilateral triangle, another Masonic symbol. These cases also feature the Masonic Eye of the Allmight or Eye of Providence. In Harding's watch, the Eye is located on the caseback, along with King Solomon's Temple, and the case is engraved with "Hiram Watch Inc., 14K, No. 145." The movement is inscribed Waltham. The name "Hiram Watch Inc." comes from Hiram Abiff, a central figure in Masonic lore. This man was a Master Freemason and directed the construction of King Solomon's Temple. He is known for refusing to be instructed in the mysteries of Freemasonry when asked by three men who were too inexperienced to be members of the Freemasons. The watch is also inscribed "Swiss HALLMARK/15 jewels movement/Ser. #3364074." Harding became a Freemason in 1920, the same year he was elected President by a landslide.
