This Quote was taken from the cover of a price listing pamphlet published by the North American Watch Co. in 1925

The factory building pictured above was originally constructed for the Bell Watch Case Co. in 1902 and is now occupied by North American Knitting Co. It is located at Dewy Ave. and Spring St. off Wayne St. in the north east section of Mansfield known as Bell Heights.

The pocket watch case industry flourished in Mansfield from 1902 until after World War I when wrist watches spelled the death knell of the fancy engraved pocket watches such as were produced by the old North American Watch Co. The gold and solver cases with engraved designs were manufactured from raw gold bullion. The bullion was rolled into sheets and the cases stamped out. At first the cases were hand engraved but in later years machine engraving was introduced and a number of cases were engraved from a single master by diamond pointed engraving machines.

It took about three years (from 1899 to 1902) to build the pink and variegated native sandstone building at Bell Heights with its main entrance and three wings. A circular driveway and beautiful landscaping made the factory one of the beauty spots in the city.

The stone was quarried just north of the factory and evidence of chips found around the foundations by the present owner indicates that much of the stone was dressed on the site of construction. W. W. Stark, a well known local business man, was operating the watch case factory when it was forced to close in 1929 because the market for pocket watches no longer existed.

In 1933 at the peak of the depression, Frederick Kinkel and his sons were looking for an ideal site to bring the knitting industry to the Midwest from Union, N. J. At various times previously the Kinkels visited distant relatives in Mansfield and were intrigued by the old Watch Works building. On Feb. 12, 1933 he Kinkels' met with the owner and a committee of the chamber of commerce and purchased the factory building.

The Kinkels' soon learned why the bidders wanted the dust catching items. They were virtually worth their weight in gold since gold dust particles had permeated every nook and cranny of the building and could be extracted from the dirt, dust and wood.

It was at this time local jeweler Nicholas Haring made the Kinkels' a proposition. The flooring that was being removed in the renovation of the old building would be burned and the ashes saved to be processed for the valuable metals that had, for over a quarter of a century of polishing, engraving and forming watch cases seeped into the wood as fine dust.

Haring for a commission supervised the burning of the wood flooring in old improvised incinerators made of oil drums. The ashes were placed in about a dozen old sauerkraut barrels and stored in the basement of the Knitting company for shipment to a firm in New Jersey where facilities for extracting the valuable metals were available.

Kinkel's had little faith in the project and one day the senior Mr. Kinkel needed some filler for holes in the circular driveway in front of the building so he used some of the ashes to do the job.

Eventually Haring persuaded Kinkels to ship the ashes to New Jersey and over $5,000 in gold and silver was extracted from them.

The old building has undergone several changes through the years with a major addition in the 1940's. Another addition in the 1970'2 However the main entrance has remained much the same as pictured in the pictures. Parts of the building were well utilized in the renovating with the vaults becoming elevator shafts. It is a sure thing that in any renovating no old wood or dust is ever thrown out. It is gently gatheres and the gold extracted.