Burt’s Safety Pinion

Pocket Watch 101: What is a Safety Pinion?

By Nathan Moore

In Patents & Innovations

The power that allows a pocket watch to operate is provided by the mainspring. This large spring is coiled tightly inside the mainspring barrel as the watch is wound. Once the watch is running, the power is slowly expelled by the escapement, located at the...

Illinois Watch Company , Patents & Innovations

American Innovation: Bigelow’s Patent Safety Pinion and the Illinois Watch Company (Part 7)

By Nathan Moore

Before Fogg's patented safety pinion entered the public domain in 1882, new watch companies were compelled to prioritize the development of their own unique safety pinion design. When the Illinois.

Patents & Innovations , Waltham

American Innovation: Charles W. Fogg’s Safety Pinion: The Better Patent Pinion (Part 3)

By Nathan Moore

While Charles W. Fogg is generally credited with creating the first safety pinion in America, Merritt Burt actually secured a patent for his safety pinion design a few months before.

American Innovation: Merritt Burt’s Safety Pinion: Inside America’s First Patented Safety Pinion (Part 2)

By Nathan Moore

In Elgin , Patents & Innovations

Merritt Burt's Patent Safety Pinion (Center Wheel and Pinion from National Watch Company Movement) On September 13, 1864, Merritt Burt was granted the first patent for a safety pinion design in the United States. Patent Illustration for Merritt Burt's Safety Pinion Design At the time...