Life, 1920-06-03 · page 5 of 52
Life — June 3, 1920 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is **primarily an advertisement** for Waltham watches, not political satire. The large "PROOF" headline and decorative astronomical/mechanical imagery promote Waltham as "THE MOST SCIENTIFICALLY BUILT WATCH IN THE WORLD." The ad emphasizes technical innovation: a diamond-cutter innovation for the escapement mechanism that reduces friction and improves accuracy. The text highlights that Waltham invented a machine with a diamond cutter to perfect watch components. The small watch illustration labeled "The Riverside" shows the actual product. There is **no political cartoon or satire** on this page—it's a straightforward early 20th-century advertisement leveraging scientific credibility and precision engineering to market luxury watches to affluent readers of *Life* magazine.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
6 Mf BULL y Ex WATCH IN TE = WORD The Waltham Scientific Method for Eliminating Friction inthe Escapement Which Means Accurate Time-keeping and Dependability of Your Watch Ruby or Sapphire perfectly formed in rectangular shape and highly polished) check the power which comes from the main- spring in your watch and then release it 18,000 times or beats per hour. In these governing functions of the escape- wheel an impulse is given to the balance wheel, which is transferred in governed move- ment, called Time, to the hands of the watch. Think, for a moment, of the possibility of friction, where the pallet jewels slide over the impulse surface of the escape-wheel tecth (illustrated above) 432,000 times every twenty-four hours ! Here was an opportunity for Waltham invention to minimize friction practically to the vanishing point. And friction is the most insidious and dangerous enemy to correct time-keeping in the works of a watch. v SHE pallet stones (pieces of selected After years of experiment and development, Wal- tham invented a machine equipped with a diamond cutter which not only cut the diameter of the escape- wheel to its exact size, but left the impulse surface of the teeth so perfectly shaped (rounded) and highly polished that when the face of the pallet stones (jewels) slid across that surface, friction was practi- cally reduced to its ultimate minimum. It can readily be seen that this development of the diamond cutter has given the Waltham Watch a posi- tive and valuable advantage in time-keeping and un- varying performance. The ordinary method of making an escape-wheel is to polish with some polishing compound, which being composed of gritty elements cannot be used without particles of grit becoming embedded in the polished surface. This in time roughens the surface of the pal- let stones, eventually causing greater friction and con- sequent variability of time-keeping. The Waltham Scientific Method, then, of cutting and polishing with a cutter made from a diamond is an- other hidden, yet vitally important, superiority in the “works” of a Waltham Watch which provides an unanswerable reason why your watch selection should be a Waltham. « Jependable moderate «ch in the world ar This story is continued in a beautiful booklet in which you will find a liberal watch education. 575 and up Sent free upon request. Waltham Watch Company, Waltham, Mass. WALTHAM THE WORLD'S WATCH QVER TIME comicbooks.com