Watson Silver Company "Commonwealth" Sterling Silver Ice Tongs - 2.215 ozt. Pierced leaf design for the two sides in a style first designed around 1908, with the hallmarks on the interior side. 

Size: 2 1/4 x 6 1/2 x 1 3/4 in. 

Weight: 2.215 ozt. 

In 1874 the silversmiths Clarence L. Watson and Fred Newell along with goldsmiths Charles Cobb, Samuel Gould and W.A. Battey jointly formed Cobb, Gould & Co in Attleboro, Massachusetts. The firm started by producing a line of jewelry goods, mainly gold plated. Between 1875 and 1880 Battey, Cobb and Gould all withdrew from the partnership, and Watson and Newell formed a new firm operating under the name Watson & Newell, dedicated specifically to silver jewelry. In 1887 Joseph R. Ripley joined the business and the name changed to Watson, Newell & Co, with rapid expansion leading the company to acquire the defunct Mechanics Mill property in 1894, opening a new factory there in 1896. At that time the name changed yet again to Watson & Newell Co, while Mechanics Sterling Company was created as a subsidiary flatware branch, and in 1904 a sleeve and collar buttons division under the direction of Ripley and Gowen became a separate operating unit in the Mechanics factory, with the name Standard Button Company. In 1920 the numerous companies were consolidated under the name The Watson Company, and when Watson died in 1930 his son-in-law Grover Richards took over management, eventually selling the company to R. Wallace & Sons in 1955, who retired the name and many of the designs. 

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