From 40 Million Watches to Nothing: The Waltham Watch Factory, Massachusetts

40 million watches. 107 years of history. And a legacy that literally built the modern world. Before Henry Ford built a single car, the Waltham Watch Factory in Massachusetts was perfecting the assembly line. This was the birthplace of the "American System"—the revolutionary concept of interchangeable parts and division of labor that allowed a small town on the Charles River to become “Watch City,” a place so vital that its factory was stamped onto the city seal. Abraham Lincoln carried a Waltham. The American military relied on its precision. But in a tragic twist of industrial history, the very innovation that made Waltham a global titan would become the tool that destroyed it.