Joseph Fahys & Co.
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| New York Corporation | |
| Industry | Watchmaking |
| Genre | Watchmaker |
| Founded | 1857 |
| Founder | Joseph Fahys |
| Headquarters | New York City, United States |
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Key people
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Yehuda Fulda Chairman of the Board |
| Products | Watches and Smartwatches |
| Parent | TGX Holdings |
| Website | josephfahys.com |
Joseph Fahys & Co is a high quality watchmaker headquartered in New York. It was founded in 1857 by Joseph Fahys, a French emigrant.
Joseph Fahys & Co is most famous for their production of the Dust Proof Case and the Magnetically Shielded Case during the 1880s. The company’s handmade gold and silver watches are sought after and highly collectible today. In 2013, Joseph Fahys & Co began developing a luxury American-made smartwatch with a patent pending kinetically charged battery.
The founder of the company, Joseph Fahys, was born on May 28, 1832 in Belfort, France. In 1848, Fahys emigrated from France to the United States with his mother. He was apprenticed to Ulysses Savoye, of West Hoboken, New Jersey, who was one of the two first watch case makers in the United States. He remained Savoye’s employee for five years until beginning an independent career at the age of 21. In 1857, Fahys had earned enough to be able to buy Savoye’s business and he renamed it: Joseph Fahys & Co. He initially moved the business to 75 Nassau Street in Lower Manhattan, but later relocated the factory back to Carlstadt, New Jersey By 1867, the company had expanded and a second factory was opened in Brooklyn. Shortly after, Fahys relocated the original plant to Sag Harbor, Long Island. It has been suggested that Fahys was able to move to this location only as a result of the socio-economic changes brought about by the Great Fire of Sag Harbor in 1877. The business was officially incorporated in 1881, when Fahys went into partnership with his son-in-law Henry Francis Cook. The watch plant in Sag Harbor was titled ‘The Fahys Watch Case Co.’, while the firm in New York remained under the name ‘Joseph Fahys & Co.’ The corporation absorbed the Brooklyn Watch Case Company and the Alvin Manufacturing Company of New Jersey. During this time, the company not only manufactured watchcases but was also the biggest producer of silverware in the United States. Fahys used his influence and success to found the Jewellers Board of Trade in 1884, and was the first president of the Watchcase Manufacturers Association. During the latter part of the 19th Century, the company was the largest manufacturer of gold and silver watch cases in the United States. Fahys’ watch factory in Sag Harbor created an immediate demand for manual as well as skilled labor. A large proportion of its laborers were retired seamen and immigrants. Historian Helen Gerard notes:
“Recruiters from the factory went directly to Ellis Island…and offered the immigrants jobs. Whole families would transfer to the steamer going directly to Sag Harbor without ever setting foot in New York”. The factory was said to have sported a social hall with billiards room and card tables, and a library.
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Wikipedia