SIC 3873 Watches, Clocks, Clockwork Operated Devices, and Parts

Contenidos

• NAICS CODE(S).
• INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT.
• BACKGROUND AND DEVELOPMENT.
• CURRENT CONDITIONS.
• INDUSTRY LEADERS.
• FURTHER READING.

SIC 3873

This segment covers establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing clocks, watches, watchcases, mechanisms for clockwork operated devices, and clock and watch parts. This industry includes establishments primarily engaged in assembling clocks and watches from purchased movements and cases. Establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing time clocks are classified in SIC 3579: Office Machines, Not Elsewhere Classified; those manufacturing glass crystals are classified in SIC 3231: Glass Products, Made of Purchased Glass; and those manufacturing plastic crystals are classified in SIC 3089: Plastics Products, Not Elsewhere Classified.

NAICS CODE(S)

334518

Watch, Clock, and Part Manufacturing

INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT

The watch and clock industry has always been small compared to other industries, and, since the late 1980s, the number of manufacturers has declined. This is due in large part to the movement, begun in the 1970s, of watch parts manufacture from the continental United States to offshore facilities. The popularity of quartz watches, which are produced primarily in mainland Asia as well as in Japan, have prompted the shift to offshore facilities.

The booming U.S. economy of the late 1990s helped push the value of industry shipments from $921 million in 1997 to $1.17 billion in 2000, but the value of shipments plummeted to $601 million in 2003. The total number of employees also fell from 6,333 to 2,793 over the same time period. By 2004, sales in this category were increasing, with watches priced above $500 leading the charge. In 2005, the average retail price of a watch was $583.

BACKGROUND AND DEVELOPMENT

Although the clock industry has existed in the United States since pre-Revolutionary days, it did not begin to flourish until the early 1800s when such companies as Ingraham Clock Co. and Chelsea Clock Co. were established. The first clocks manufactured for home use were pendulum clocks that, despite their excellent timekeeping, were rather cumbersome. Whether a huge mantle clock or a floor clock, the instrument had to be set perfectly plumb to keep time accurately. Such clocks were handmade, and their cost was prohibitive. A clock was considered an investment and bought with the understanding that it would be passed from generation to generation. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, new technologies were...