Joseph Fahys & Co.

Last updated
Joseph Fahys & Co, Inc.
TypeNew York Corporation
IndustryWatchmaking
GenreWatchmaker
Founded1857
Founder Joseph Fahys
Headquarters
New York City
,
United States
ProductsWatches and Smartwatches
Parent TGX Holdings
Website josephfahys.com

Joseph Fahys & Co is a watchmaker headquartered in New York. It was founded in 1857 by Joseph Fahys, a French emigrant. [1]

Contents

Joseph Fahys & Co is most famous for their production of the Dust Proof Case [2] and the Magnetically Shielded Case during the 1880s. [3] The company's handmade gold and silver watches are sought after and highly collectible today. In 2013, Joseph Fahys & Co began developing a luxury American-made smartwatch with a patent-pending kinetically charged battery.

History

The Fahys Watch Case Co Factory in Sag Harbor 1878 The Fahys Watch Case Co Factory.jpg
The Fahys Watch Case Co Factory in Sag Harbor 1878

The founder of the company, Joseph Fahys, was born on May 28, 1832, in Belfort, France. [3] In 1848, Fahys emigrated from France to the United States with his mother.

He was apprenticed to Ulysses Savoye, of West Hoboken, New Jersey, who was one of the two first watch case makers in the United States. He remained Savoye's employee for five years until beginning an independent career at the age of 21. [4]

In 1857, Fahys opened his own business in New York City and in 1861 built an additional factory, under the name Foutenbach & Sons, in Carlstadt, New Jersey In 1878 the factory was renamed Joseph Fahys. [5]

The business was officially incorporated in 1881, and in 1882 moved operations to Sag Harbor, New York. [5] The watch plant in Sag Harbor was titled ‘The Fahys Watch Case Co.’, while the firm in New York remained under the name ‘Joseph Fahys & Co.’ The corporation absorbed the Brooklyn Watch Case Company and the Alvin Manufacturing Company of New Jersey.[ citation needed ]

During this time, the company not only manufactured watch cases but was also the biggest producer of silverware in the United States. Fahys used his influence and success to found the Jewellers Board of Trade in 1884, and was the first president of the Watchcase Manufacturers Association. [1] During the latter part of the 19th Century, the company was the largest manufacturer of gold and silver watch cases in the United States. [6] Fahys’ watch factory in Sag Harbor created an immediate demand for manual as well as skilled labor. A large proportion of its laborers were retired seamen and immigrants. [ citation needed ]

Fahys employed a high number of Hungarian, Polish, and Italian workers, many of whom were expert engravers. The company earned a reputation for providing excellent working conditions and benefits for its employees. [7] Under growing financial strain Fahys sold the Sag Harbor plant to Joseph Bulova, an Austrian watchmaker who continued to produce watch cases in the factory until 1975. [3]

Factories and offices

Fahys & Co, Fahys was moved from Hoboken, New Jersey to New York. Shortly after, however, he relocated the factory again to Carlstadt, New Jersey. A second factory was opened in 1867 in Brooklyn. [3]

Early in 1880, Fahys met with the Sag Harbor Business Aid Committee, and the New York Times later reported the selection of Sag Harbor as the future site of a new watchcase factory, stating, "Plans furnished by John A. Wood called for two main buildings 200 feet in length, three stories high, and connected by a 100-foot structure. Five separate buildings, each one story high, would be constructed to house a blacksmith shop, boiler, engine rooms and rooms for annealing and smelting silver and gold. They would be constructed of brick and granite trim, have stone floor and roofs of tin, making them absolutely fireproof. Steam would be used for heating and gas for lighting, which would be manufactured on the premises.The relocation of the factory led to a housing boom in Sag Harbor, with approximately 80 small factory workers’ houses being built to accommodate the new workers. The factory building itself has been labelled as “Gradgrind" architecture, a name inspired by an inflexible, dictatorial Dickens character. Wilfrid Sheed in ‘Sag Harbor Is: A Literary Celebration’ [8] said that the building was “one of those epic anomalies that help to define a landscape by clashing with it. [9]

In 1925, much of the Sag Harbor factory was destroyed by fire. By 1931, amidst the financial pressures of Great Depression, the factory was closed. In 1937, Joseph Bulova, an Austrian watchmaker, took a ten-year lease on the building, and later bought it. Bulova operated the factory until 1975, when the plant was closed due to increased overseas competition and a changing marketplace. In 2014, the abandoned factory was redeveloped into a luxury complex consisting of condominiums, penthouses and townhouses named ‘The Watchcase’. [10]

While the Fahys factories have been in various locations, the offices have always been New York based. The offices were first based at 75 Nassau Street until 1861, when they moved to 9 Maiden Lane, then to 38 Maiden Lane and then to 41 Maiden Lane. In 1896 the Fahys building [11] at 54 Maiden Lane, running through to Liberty Street, was built and the offices and showrooms were relocated there. [7]

In 2015 Joseph Fahys & Co moved its headquarters to the iconic Empire State Building in New York City.[ citation needed ]

Watches

Mechanical watches

Since 1857, all Fahys watchcases have been fitted with high-quality mechanical movements. The cases were made of gold, silver and ore silver (nickel) and Fahys' goods were acknowledged by the entire trade to be unequaled in their strength and workmanship. [12]

During the mid-1880s, Joseph Fahys & Co marketed a range of Dust Proof Cases which were resistant to dirt and water.

In the late 1880s, there was a growing concern about the risk of watchcases becoming magnetized. To answer such concerns, Fahys utilized the Giles Anti-Magnetic Shield in order to release a range of magnetically shielded cases. [3]

Joseph Fahys & Co manufactured a variety of shapes of watches. Fahys gave some of these styles unique names, for example, the Raleigh, the Boston, the Olympia, and the Cambridge. The company also offered a range of engraved styles ranging from Locomotive designs to Ships of the Spanish–American War. The company also produced bracelet watches. [3]

At the height of production during the First World War, Joseph Fahys & Co. also produced a series of silver trench watch cases that housed Marvin A. Cattin and Imperial Branded movements. [13]

Smart Watches

Joseph Fahys & Co developed and released a smartwatch, In-Touch, at the end of 2018. The device was the first to feature a patent-pending kinetically charged battery. [14] [15] [16]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waltham Watch Company</span> American watchmaker

The Waltham Watch Company, also known as the American Waltham Watch Co. and the American Watch Co., was a company that produced about 40 million watches, clocks, speedometers, compasses, time delay fuses, and other precision instruments in the United States of America between 1850 and 1957. The company's historic 19th-century manufacturing facilities in Waltham, Massachusetts have been preserved as the American Waltham Watch Company Historic District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aaron Lufkin Dennison</span> American watchmaker and businessman (1812–1895)

Aaron Lufkin Dennison was an American watchmaker and businessman who founded a number of companies.

Bulova is an American timepiece manufacturing company that was founded in 1875 and has been owned by Japanese multinational conglomerate Citizen Watch Co. since 2008. The company makes watches, clocks and accessories, and it is based in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Citizen Watch</span> Core company of a Japanese global corporate group based in Tokyo, Japan

Citizen Watch Co., Ltd. is an electronics company primarily known for its watches and is the core company of a Japanese global corporate group based in Nishitokyo, Tokyo, Japan. In addition to Citizen brand watches, it is the parent of American watch company Bulova, and is also known for manufacturing small electronic devices such as calculators.

Joseph Johnson of Liverpool, England, was a highly respected and successful British master clock, watch and chronometer maker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">E. Howard & Co.</span> American clock and watch company

E. Howard & Co. was a clock and watch company formed by Edward Howard and Charles Rice in 1858, after the demise of the Boston Watch Company. The pair acquired some of the material and watches in progress, based upon a lien against the defunct company held by Rice, but they were unable to buy the existing factory or machinery, so they moved to Roxbury. Soon afterwards, Howard bought out Rice's interest and thereafter sought to make high quality watches based on his own unique designs and eccentric production methods. E. Howard & Co. also produced regulators, and marine clocks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quartz crisis</span> 1970s–80s watchmaking industry upheaval

The quartz crisis was the upheaval in the watchmaking industry caused by the advent of quartz watches in the 1970s and early 1980s, that largely replaced mechanical watches around the world. It caused a significant decline of the Swiss watchmaking industry, which chose to remain focused on traditional mechanical watches, while the majority of the world's watch production shifted to Japanese companies such as Seiko, Citizen, and Casio which embraced the new electronic technology.

Harry B. Henshel was an American businessman and the last member of the Bulova family to head the Bulova Watch Company, as president, chairman and chief executive officer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beyer Blinder Belle</span> International architecture firm

Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners LLP (BBB) is an international architecture firm. It is based in New York City and has an additional office in Washington, DC. The firm's name is derived from the three founding partners: John H. Beyer, Richard Blinder, and John Belle. The three architects met in 1961 while working in the New York office of Victor Gruen. The trio developed a specialty in historic preservation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gallet & Company</span>

Gallet (ˈgæl.eɪ) is a historic Swiss manufacturer of high-end timepieces for professional, military, sports, racing, and aviation use. Gallet is the world's oldest clock making house with history dating back to Humbertus Gallet, a clock maker who became a citizen of Geneva in 1466. The Gallet & Cie name was officially registered by Julien Gallet (1806–1849) in 1826, who moved the family business from Geneva to La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. Prior to this date, operations commenced under the name of each of the Gallet family patriarchs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Pitkin</span> American silversmith and watchmaker (1811–1846)

Henry Pitkin was a silversmith and watchmaker of Hartford, Connecticut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Self Winding Clock Company</span> Former manufacturer of electric clocks

The Self Winding Clock Company (SWCC) was a major manufacturer of electromechanical clocks from 1886 until about 1970. Based in New York City, the company was one of the first to power its clocks with an electric motor instead of winding by hand.

Roamer is a Swiss manufacturer of luxury watches, now based in Wallbach, Switzerland.

The Gruen Watch Company was formerly one of the largest watch manufacturers in the United States. It was in business from about 1894 to 1958 and was based in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was founded in 1894 by German-born watchmaker Dietrich Grün, who changed the spelling of his name to "Gruen" because the letter ü does not exist in English.

Temple Adas Israel is Reform Jewish synagogue in Sag Harbor, Suffolk County, on Long Island, New York, in the United States. It is one of the 19th century synagogue buildings in the United States.

Wittnauer is a watch and clock company, founded in New Rochelle, New York in 1885 by Swiss immigrant Albert Wittnauer, that is now a brand of the Bulova company, which is owned by Japanese conglomerate Citizen Watch Co.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waltham Model 1857</span>

The Waltham Model 1857 is a watch made by the American Watch Company, later called the Waltham Watch Company in Waltham, Massachusetts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Fahys</span>

Joseph Fahys was one of the first U.S. watch case manufacturers. After emigrating from France, he went on to establish Joseph Fahys & Co., which at one time was the largest manufacturer of watch cases and one of the largest manufacturers of silverware in the United States. He was also the founder and first president of the Jewelers' Board of Trade, and the first president of the Watchcase Manufacturers' Association.

Henry Francis Cook was a US manufacturer and financier. He was born in Brooklyn, New York. Cook was president of the Montauk Steamboat Company, the Sag Harbor Real Estate Company, and the Sag Harbor Water Company. He was vice-president of the Peconic Bank of Sag Harbor, secretary and treasurer of the Sag Harbor Heating and Lighting Company, and a partner in the Fahys Watch Case Company. He was a member of the Sons of the Revolution, Society of Colonial Wars, Pilgrims Society, Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York, Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, and the Union League Club. In 1883, he married Lena Marianne Fahys (1871–1936), the daughter of Joseph Fahys. Their children were Edith Eloise, Joseph Fahys, Madeline Huntting, Henry Cook (Harry), Francis Howell and Maria Fahys.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oakland Cemetery (Sag Harbor, New York)</span> Cemetery in Sag Harbor, New York, US

Oakland Cemetery is a public, not-for-profit cemetery located in the village Sag Harbor, New York. It was founded in 1840 and currently sits on 26 acres bounded by Jermain Ave to the north, Suffolk St to the east, and Joels Ln to the west. It is the permanent resting place of over 4,000 people, including more 18th and 19th century sea captains than in any other Long Island cemetery. It was incorporated in 1884.

References

  1. 1 2 "The History of Clinton Apartments". Brownstoner. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  2. ↑ "Joseph Fahys & Co". NAWCC Forums. 2009-05-29. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Joseph Fahys & Co". National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors. 29 May 2009. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  4. ↑ Henry, Ward Beecher Howard; Arthur N. Jervis, Jervis (1893). The Eagle and Brooklyn: The Record of the Progress of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Volume 2. Brooklyn, New York: Brooklyn Daily Eagle. p. 1017. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  5. 1 2 "Joseph Fahys & Co". NAWCC Forums. 2009-05-29. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
  6. ↑ Leonard, John William (1922). Who's who in finance and banking. Public Domain. p. 150.
  7. 1 2 Brady, Ralph (2012). Historic Sites and Landmarks of Long Island. Ch. 11: The History Press.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  8. ↑ Calendrille, Maryann (1900). Sag Harbor Is: A Literary Celebration. Harbor Electronic Publishing. ISBN   978-1932916249.
  9. ↑ "Working Sag Harbor". Sag Harbor Partnership. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  10. ↑ "The Watchcase" . Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  11. ↑ GmbH, Emporis. "Fahys Building, New York City | 102472 | EMPORIS". www.emporis.com. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved 2016-11-17.
  12. ↑ "The Manufacture of Watch Cases" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  13. ↑ "Montauk Rubicon Watch". Goldsmith Watchworks. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  14. ↑ LuxExposé (2018-07-16). "In-Touch by Fahys Is Billed as the Most Advanced Smartwatch in the World". Lux Exposé. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
  15. ↑ LuxExposé (2018-07-16). "In-Touch by Fahys Is Billed as the Most Advanced Smartwatch in the World". Lux Exposé. Retrieved 2023-10-04.
  16. ↑ Goodman, Wendy (2013-05-23). "Space of the Week - Sag Harbor's Renovated Watchcase Factory -- New York Magazine - Nymag". New York Magazine. Retrieved 2023-10-04.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.