Exquisite baseball-themed nickel-silver pocket watch dating to the early 20th Century. The American Waltham Watch Company created high-quality timepieces from the late 19th Century until the company shut its doors in 1957 however the baseball-themed watch that occasionally finds its way to the hobby auctions dates to the late 19th Century to the very early 1900s. By 1900 the company had manufactured nearly 10 million watches and was one of the country's more popular watch manufacturers. Little is known about the origin of the baseball-themed watches produced by the company. The National Watch and Clock Museum in Columbia Pennsylvania which has a similar model on display theorizes that the watches were manufactured for the company baseball league. Regardless just a handful are known to exist and most have subtle variations in their face or case stylings. This particular example carries a serial number of 15326335 dating it roughly to 1906. This example measures just shy of 2 3/4" from the base to the crown and is in outstanding aesthetic condition with very few minor abrasions about the finish. The enamel face features illustrated baseball players at each hour marker (except 6) the hands free-moving and functional. The watch is in need of repair to bring it to functionality though this is common with timepieces of this age. The few hobby auctions that have features similar models venture to describe it as a "generic" baseball-themed watch and though such a description may technically be the case that would not account for its rarity as Waltham watches from this era are still quite plentiful among watch collectors. The Waltham watches with the baseball motif are far more rare suggesting that the National Watch and Clock Museum's assessment of this watch is accurate and that production was extremely limited made available only to members of the factory league. If this is the case it is quite possible that the reason that each of the different examples sold in the hobby have subtle differences in watch face design is because each of the enamel faces are unique. Indeed the watch design was re-imagined in 2014 by the RGM company for a limited-edition watch named "Baseball In Enamel " a limited production run of 18 pieces in stainless steel gold or platiunum with a top price of $38 900. The reverse of the watch case also carries a baseball motif not seen in the other examples that have sold publicly: an engraving of two crossed bats topped by a single baseball. The condition of the reverse is strong with slight abrasions due to use. The case itself is a "swing-style" case quite a piece of craftsmanship given the date of production. A rare and desirable piece one of very few known and likely unique.