Charles S. Moseley

Charles Scott Moseley was one of the most pivotal figures in the history of American watchmaking. He was born February 28, 1828 in Westfield, Massachusetts. At the age of eighteen, Moseley began working at a machine shop in his hometown. Soon after, he took a job in Boston as a machinist, working for George H. Fox. In 1852, he was introduced to the watch industry for the first time, accepting a position at Dennison, Howard & Davis, a startup in Roxbury, Massachusetts that was aiming to manufacture watches with interchangeable parts.

Moseley was associated with this company through the transition to Waltham, Massachusetts as the American Watch Company, where he became the foreman of the machine department.

In 1859, Moseley joined a group that branched from the American Watch Company to form the Nashua Watch Company, where he held the position of master mechanic. Moseley was essential to the new company, designing all the machinery that produced the movements.

While working at Nashua and Waltham, Moseley designed the method of closing lathe chucks while stationary by the movement of the closing spindle. This innovation is familiar to anyone that has used a watchmaker’s lathe.

Moseley quickly gained a reputation as one of the best designers of tools and machinery in the country. In 1864, an ambitious group started the National Watch Company out of Chicago and convinced Moseley to join the operation as general superintendent. Moseley remained with the company until 1877, working at the factory in Elgin, Illinois.

While at Elgin, Moseley designed many of the company’s innovative products, including the interchangeable model, a micrometric regulator, and the iconic Elgin hairspring stud used for nearly a century.

After leaving the Elgin National Watch Company, Moseley and his brother Horace started the Moseley Lathe Company, manufacturing some of the finest machinery and tools for watchmakers across the country.

In 1878, Moseley moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania to become the superintendent at the Lancaster Watch Company.

A few years later, in 1881, Moseley became the superintendent of the Independent Watch Company.

However, due to health ailments, Moseley moved to Limona, Florida in October 1881, where he spent the remainder of his life.