Watty Family Artisans

Goldsmiths, Silversmiths and Jewelers

The Watty family goldsmith profession is steeped in tradition.

Goldsmith Privilege for J.H. Watty 1754
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Johan Henrich Watty, the 3rd son of Joseph Watty was born in 1726. In 1743, when he was only 16 years old, he had already begun his apprenticeship in the workshop of master goldsmith Jacob Bartels in Hamburg. Johan studied under Jacob Bartels for 6 years and then worked as a journeyman for another 5 years. In 1754 Johan requested a goldsmith privilege to work in St. Georg, a central quarter in the borough Hamburg-Mitte of Hamburg, Germany. This privilege was issued by the Mayor, Conrad Widow, on June 5, 1754.

A translation of the privilege is in progress.

On March 26, 1756 Johan returns from the central quarter of St. Georg as a Hamburg citizen (Guarantor: Hans Jacob Wehncke). He had to pay off 40 Marck Courant citizens income annually in order to become a full citizen. On April 12, 1756 he was accepted to the goldsmith’s guild as a master. His trademark was “IHW”.

Johan Henrich Watty's works that can still be seen today:
Two collection baskets in the Rellingen church (Located near Hamburg in Schleswig-Holstein, district of Pinneberg ). The baskets were made in 1756 as commissioned work of the Saxon, Count Otto Carl von Callenberg (1686-1759), who since 1717 was a Danish subject, Hofmarschall of the Danish King and Landdrost in Pinneberg. The collection baskets were in a box of equipment donated to the newly constructed (1754-1756) church building in Rellingen. The inscription which circles the collection basket reads “In Honorem Dei. Otto Carl Comte a Callenberg Ad 1756 den 18. July”

Discovered in 2009, a silver handled basket (crafted between 1756 and 1761) is the second piece of work still remaining today from the master goldsmith Johan Henrich Watty. This finely crafted piece with Rocaille-feet (6.1 Inches), matt etched (defective) reversible glass inserts and branch embossed handle was sold to a private party in an auction at Schloss Hagenburg near Steinhuder Meer in December 2009. (Photo courtesy of the auction house)

1756 Collection Baskets
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1756 Collection Baskets
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1756 Collection Basket
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1756-1761? Silver Handled Basket
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Goldsmith Privilege 1761
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Johan Henrich Watty was a master in the Hamburg goldsmith guild until 1761/62. On July 27, 1761 at a guild meeting in St. Nicolai Church hall he sold his master privilege to the goldsmith Johann Conrad Otersen, which also included his apprentice since April 25, 1759, Peter Hinrichsen, son of Altonaer citizen Johan Mathias. Between 1761 and March 1, 1770 no records for Johan have been found.

A translation of the privilege sold on July 27, 1761 is in progress.

Johan Henrich Watty's sons, Joachim Jakob Watty and Johann Georg Wilhelm Watty

On March 1, 1770 Johan Henrich Watty is found in St. Petersburg, Russia as a Master Silversmith at Czar’s Foreign Jewelers. This is where he trains the first of his two sons, Joachim Jakob Watty (Born in 1756 in Hamburg), in the goldsmith profession. In 1776 Joachim becomes a journeyman goldsmith. Johan’s second son, Johann Georg Wilhelm Watty (Born in 1758 in Hamburg) finished his goldsmith apprenticeship under Master Röwing in 1779. Johann Georg Wilhelm Watty married Maria Magdalena Beckmann in St. Petersburg. In 1794, Georg Wilhelm, as he is recorded in the church records, baptized his daughter Sophia Friederika at St. Michael’s parish in the cadet school chapel (homepage).

The Neva at St. Petersburg, Russia, 1761. Click to enlarge image

Johan Henrich Watty died on January 14, 1794 just before the baptism of his granddaughter Sophia. Apparently the family was living on Vasilievsky Island in the Neva River, the cultural and commercial center of the young Russian capital of St. Petersburg. The church records are from the cadet corps, an elite school for Russian and Scandinavian nobility which was in the same location as the church. St. Michael’s Protestant community would gather in the cadet school chapel, which until the 19th century could establish its own church. Due to burial rules established between 1771 and 1772 it is unlikely that Johan Henrich Watty was buried in the Smolensk cemetery in the city. He was probably buried outside the city limits in the Volkovo cemetery which had recently been built in 1773.

Joachim Heinrich Watty
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A new line, Johan Henrich Watty's nephew, Joachim Heinrich Watty

Although Johan Henrich Watty was the first goldsmith in the family, claims found continuously in recorded literature incorrectly assume that he is the progenitor of 5 generations of the goldsmith dynasty from 1822 to about 1958. Genealogical research shows that the correct progenitor of this line of descendants is actually his younger brother Johann Josef Watty (Born in 1730).

Hinter St. Petri (1837)
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Johann Josef Watty’s grandson, Joachim Heinrich Watty (Born in 1787), was a gold worker since 1814 and in 1822 started the family business (J.H. Watty and Son) at Hinter St. Petri, No.88 on the ground floor in the center of Hamburg. After moving the workshop to Große Johannisstraße, "The Great Fire" destroyed it in 1842. After the fire, the family business is accommodated for a few years by Johann Georg Watty, the money changer and banker. When Joachim Henrich Watty died in 1843 his widow, Charlotte Sophia Catharina Elisabeth Javitz, took over the business.

Johann Heinrich Watty
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Joachim Heinrich Watty's son, Johann Heinrich Watty

Joachim’s son, Johann Heinrich Watty (Born in 1816), who was already working as a jeweler and concessionist, eventually takes over the family business in 1852 in a new location on Speersort 6 in Hamburg. As a result of the business the Watty’s goldsmith craft was well known in Hamburg and is mentioned in the cities archives. Prior to 1888 the son of Johann Heinrich Watty, Johann Jakob Heinrich Watty (Born in 1851) takes over his father’s business. It is unknown if he was a skilled goldsmith, but he did produce work. In 1911 the old building which housed the business was torn down and reconstructed as the new Watty-Haus, a modern Kontorhaus. After Johann Jakob Heinrich Watty's death in 1917, the business remained at this location until 1933/34.

J.H. Watty & Son (1878)
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Johann Jakob H. Watty
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Watty-Haus (1929)
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New Business (1956)
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Speersorthaus (2002)
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Johann Heinrich Watty
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Johann Jakob Heinrich Watty's son, Johann Heinrich Watty

At some point prior to the 1930’s the business comes under the ownership of the direct descendant of Johan Josef Watty, Johann Heinrich Watty (Born in 1891 in Hamburg). As a highly decorated World War I officer, he did not want to be part of the new German Reich in 1919 (referred to as the “Wiemar Republic” by historians). In the 20’s he moved his family to Corsier-Port on the shore of Lake Geneva in Switzerland. Then in 1935 he emigrated with his family to Miami Beach, Florida in America where he established a second jewelry shop, purchased a hotel, an apartment building and a private home.

Bergstrasse (1934)
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In August of 1938, while living in Miami, his 12 year old son, Johann Jakob Heinrich Watty, died of an infection. He returned to Hamburg with his family in September of 1938 to bury his son in the family graveyard at the Ohlsdorfer cemetery. When World War II started in 1939 he was still in Hamburg with his family. The Hamburg goldsmith business was still operating at Bergstraße 26 (Formerly hinter St. Petri) where it had moved in 1934. Shortly after the war started, Johann left Germany with his family. From Holland they took a Holland America Line ship, the “MS Staatendam”, to New York.

From 1939 to 1949 they stayed in St. Louis, Missouri, only returning to visit Hamburg in 1949. The goldsmith company at Bergstraße 26 had been destroyed by a bomb in 1944/45. It was rebuilt in the Eppendorf quarter of Hamburg-Nord on Loogestrasse and remained in business until 1951. After his visit, Johann Heinrich Watty returned to America and moved to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, where he started another goldsmith shop and jewelry store (Watty and Son). After his death in 1957 his wife continued to run the business for a short time. Johann Heinrich Watty is buried in the family graveyard at the Ohlsdorfer cemetery. His son, Hans Ulrich Watty (Born in Hamburg in 1926), who was trained as a goldsmith and clock maker, did not continue his father’s business. This was the end of the 215 year long Watty family gold and silversmith dynasty.

Today, the last location of the family business in Hamburg (rebuilt in 1991/92) only retains the original storefront.