Mary Lincoln’s Bracelet Watch

Lincoln, Mary Todd

Bracelet watches were fashionable in the mid-nineteenth century. The wearer would lift the blue enamel cover decorated with diamond chips to reveal a tiny watch face. The elegant timepiece was probably more useful as a bracelet than as a watch given the size of the dial. The name of the firm from which Mary Lincoln purchased the bracelet watch, V. John Magnin & Guédin, is engraved by the watch face. V. John Magnin & Guédin was a successful importer of “watches, jewelry, and fancy goods” with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, and New York City. Mary Lincoln likely purchased the bracelet watch on one of her shopping trips in the city.