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Lot Essay
Dietrich Gruen (1847-1911), a German born immigrant, came to America in 1867 where he met his wife Pauline Wittlinger of Delaware, Ohio. Her father was a watch maker and following their marriage Gruen joined the family business. In 1874, he developed and patented the safety pinion which protected the movement should the mainspring break. The force of energy was released to the pinion thus keeping the shock from damaging the remainder of the watch.
By 1876, Gruen and a partner opened the Columbus Watch Company and began producing their own watch movements rather than relying on imports. Gruen's eldest son, Fred,(1872-1945) a mechanical engineer, spent a year at the Horological Institute of Glashütte and upon his return joined his father's firm helping streamline the production process. The economic downturn of 1893 lead to a series of set backs within the American watch making industry with price reductions and wage cuts. Dietrich and his son were soon forced to leave the Columbus Watch Company, however the following year they opened a new firm under the name D. Gruen and Son.
D. Gruen and Son initially used watch movements made by Paul Assmann in Glashütte with the casing completed in the US, however over time they began their own production and moved their factory to Switzerland. Around 1898, Dietrich's second son, George, (1877-1952) an accountant, joined the family firm and the company name was changed to D. Gruen and Sons. The three worked together building the Gruen name to be a recognized maker of high quality watches. By 1908 the firm was producing some of the earliest wristwatches.
Dietrich Gruen died in 1911 and in memory to their father, the son's produced a watch line signed Dietrich Gruen. The original series included three models, an openface watch with winding indicator, a minute repeater and a minute repeating split second chronograph watch. It is thought that the present watch was made by Ed Koehn.
By 1876, Gruen and a partner opened the Columbus Watch Company and began producing their own watch movements rather than relying on imports. Gruen's eldest son, Fred,(1872-1945) a mechanical engineer, spent a year at the Horological Institute of Glashütte and upon his return joined his father's firm helping streamline the production process. The economic downturn of 1893 lead to a series of set backs within the American watch making industry with price reductions and wage cuts. Dietrich and his son were soon forced to leave the Columbus Watch Company, however the following year they opened a new firm under the name D. Gruen and Son.
D. Gruen and Son initially used watch movements made by Paul Assmann in Glashütte with the casing completed in the US, however over time they began their own production and moved their factory to Switzerland. Around 1898, Dietrich's second son, George, (1877-1952) an accountant, joined the family firm and the company name was changed to D. Gruen and Sons. The three worked together building the Gruen name to be a recognized maker of high quality watches. By 1908 the firm was producing some of the earliest wristwatches.
Dietrich Gruen died in 1911 and in memory to their father, the son's produced a watch line signed Dietrich Gruen. The original series included three models, an openface watch with winding indicator, a minute repeater and a minute repeating split second chronograph watch. It is thought that the present watch was made by Ed Koehn.