Elgin National Watch Company
Applying armory practices to the manufacturing of watches carried both opportunity and risk for the Waltham Watch Company. The generally high price of watches allowed for a large investment in research and development, which was aimed toward the reduction of labor costs. At the time, labor costs were a major factor contributing to the high cost of watches; any system that significantly reduced labor costs would provide a substantial increase in profit. Substantial reduction in labor costs proved elusive, however. In 1910, after 40 years of manufacturing improvements, labor still accounted for 80% of the cost of watches, based on data from the Elgin National Watch Company.