Americans were the first to mass produce watches. Edward Howard and Aaron Dennison founded the Waltham Watch Company in 1850. They designed machinery to mass produce watches and created a company which continued to do so until 1950. Another American watchmaking company which survived for over a century was founded in 1864. The National Watch Company of Elgin continued making watches until the 1960s.

Both Waltham and Elgin made relatively expensive, quality watches. In 1880, the Waterbury Watch Company was founded to make inexpensive watches. In 1892, R.H. Ingersoll began manufacturing their "dollar watch". In the same year, the Hamilton Watch Company, which is still in business, was founded.

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A few longcase clocks were made in America in the 18th and early 19th century. These  were similar to provincial English longcase clocks, or had wooden movements similar to Black Forest clocks. Early in the 19th century, the "wag on the wall" became popular. This was a weight-driven wooden clock with a pendulum swinging in front of the dial. The first American shelf clocks were made by Simon and Aaron Willard. These were about four foot high with a wide base section like a chest-on-chest. In 1802, Simon Willard also invented the banjo clock.  This had a circular dial above a tapered trunk and a box-shaped base. Other makers produced variations of this design, such as the lyre clock, which had curved sides, and the grandole clock, which had a circular base.

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As in Europe, the Victorian period in America saw an eclectic mix of revivals of past styles, including French, Gothic, Renaissance and Classical styles. No one style lasted throughout the Victorian period but several were in vogue at any given time. Often different styles were used for different rooms in one house; for example, a Gothic hall, Renaissance bedroom, Louis XIV drawing room and so on.

Increasing industrialisation allowed the beginnings of mass production to meet the needs of a rapidly increasing population. Painted and stencilled  Hitchcock chairs This, however, also brought with it fierce competition and a lowering of standards of craftsmanship. By the end of the 19th century, as elsewhere, there was a reaction against mass production which led to the Arts and Crafts movement.

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As a result of the War of 1812 between the United States and England, Americans rejected the English Regency style and, instead, followed the French Empire style. As in France, this was bulky furniture with showy use of mahogany and rosewood veneers. But, unlike the French, American Empire made little use of Classical and Egyptian figures and only limited use of brass ornamentation with no ormolu.

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Because of the American Revolutionary War, Thomas Adam’s neo-classical style of furniture never reached America and the Hepplewhite and Sheraton styles both arrived at about the same time. As a result, the two English styles tended to be mixed in America in a style sometimes called "Federal". The prevailing forms were straight lines, rectangular forms and motifs from classical architecture. The sewing table, with its large pouch, came from this period.

The most famous maker of this type of furniture was Duncan Phyfe. who, from about 1805, became influenced by the more extravagant French Directoire style in which concave curves predominate. He is famous for his elegant sofas, lyre-back chairs and monumental tables.

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In America. the term "Chippendale" is used to refer to any Georgian furniture with European characteristics, not just the rococo decoration which Thomas Chippendale promoted.  American Chippendale furniture is less grand and less lavishly decorated but more elegant than English. Its decoration style can be Gothic, Chinese or French. It is usually made from mahogany.

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The first furniture made in North America was modelled on the English furniture brought by the early settlers. The furniture was simple and straightforward but well proportioned and often had a great deal of flat carved decoration. The most commonly used wood was oak but pine and maple were also used.

The most popular tables were gateleg tables which gave rise to a uniquely American version, the butterfly table, in which the drop-leaf supports resemble the shape of butterfly wings.

Chairs included wooden armchairs, called Carver and Brewster chairs, after the Pilgrim Fathers who had brought chairs of that type with them to America.

Late in the 17th century, the "stand", a small, plain rectangular or round bedside or fireside table, developed.
 

  When William and Mary furniture reached America, it quickly became fashionable with inlay and lacquer decoration replacing carving. Writing desks were often made using a variety of woods for differing effects on each part of the desk. 

 The William and Mary chest of drawers on a stand was adapted to become the highboy (with the drawers raised so that they could be opened without bending down) and the lowboy, a dressing table with drawers. These were usually made of walnut or walnut veneer (often burled).

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Mikasa was established as a trading company in the 1930s. In the 1950s, Mikasa added ceramic dinnerware to its range. It has since become their main product. Mikasa China does not manufacture dinnerware; instead, it imports product, initially mostly from Japan, but now from some 150 factories in 20 different countries. This arrangement allows it it adjust its product line to changing taste and, as a result, Mikasa has become a leading fashion brand. The Mikasa Group’s brand names include Studio Nova which is aimed at a young, casual market, Home Beautiful which is targeted at the mid-range consumer for everyday use and Christopher Stuart which aims to provide a wide selection of styles at a competitive price as well as the up-market Mikasa brand. Although it originally sold only porcelain, the company has expanded its range to include earthenware, stoneware, bone china, glass stemware, stainless steel flatware and gift items.

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In 1871, the Onondaga Pottery Company was incorporated in Syracuse, New York and purchase the struggling Empire Crockery Manufacturing Company. The company was managed by an English potter, Lyman Clark, who hired English potters and began training local men. The company produced undecorated pottery, mainly stoneware until 1886, when fire destroyed a nearby decorating shop and Onondaga Pottery Company took on its employees to establish one of the first in-house decorating departments in America. In 1885, James Pass joined the Company as Superintendent and, later, President. He transformed the Company into a leader in ceramic research. By 1891, they were turning out a "vitrified" china that was white, thin, translucent, and stronger than any European porcelain. At first called Imperial Geddo, in 1895, these wares were given the name Syracuse China. In 1896, the company unveiled its "rolled edge" china which became a standard in the commercial food industry.

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In 1889, a young artist-potter, named Walter Scott Lenox, founded a company dedicated to the proposition that an American firm could create the finest china in the world. He possessed a zeal for perfection that he applied to the relentless pursuit of his artistic goals. In the years that followed, Lenox china became the first American chinaware ever exhibited at the National Museum of Ceramics, in Sevres, France. In 1918, Lenox became the first American company to create the official state table service for the White House. Lenox china has been in use at the White House ever since.

Being founded by an artist, Lenox has always placed special emphasis on working with the very finest artistic talents available. The most celebrated of these was William Morley, often considered the greatest of all china painters. Lenox is now the only major producer of fine china in the United States.

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In 1875, an exceptional clay deposit was discovered in Lincoln, California. The land was purchased by Charles Gladding, Peter McBean and George Chambers who formed Gladding, McBean and Company. In 1928, Dr Andrew Malinovsky developed a high talc, one fire body, using non-crystalline amorphous flux. This innovative ceramic material was patented as "Malinite". By 1932, experimental work had started at the Lincoln plant aimed at producing a pottery line using the "Malinite" body. The dinnerware and art ware were to be made in solid coloured glazes and sold under the name of Franciscan Pottery. By 1939, the prolific Glendale plant had produced at least fifteen patterns of dinnerware and nine lines of art ware.

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Early America colonial ceramics were simple, functional redwares (earthenwares with a rich brown-red colour from the iron oxide in the clay). Initially they were decorated with slip glazed blotches of colour or simple words or names. From about 1760, sgrafitto decoration (scratching a design through a coloured glaze) was used in Pennsylvania.

From early in the 18th century, stoneware was produced - most of it thick, utilitarian pieces with simple decoration in cobalt blue or brown. Stoneware, rather than redware production was boosted late in the 18th century by a scare about lead poisoning from the glaze used on redware.

In 1738, Andre Duche discovered a thick vein of kaolin clay, needed to produce porcelain, running from Virginia through Georgia. Despite several earlier attempts, it was not until 1800 that sustained porcelain production commenced at the Philadelphia works owned by William Ellis Tucker. Its most famous products were fine, white pitchers with floral decoration.

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The first successful glassworks in America was established in 1739 by Caspar Wistar in southern New Jersey. There are no positively identified "South Jersey" pieces remaining.

Henry Stiegel established three glassworks in Pennsylvania. The first made bottles and window glass from 1763. The second added some tableware to the range from 1765. The third, from 1769, was the first American glassworks to specialise in tableware. Steigal produced copies of Bohemian glass for sale to the local Pennsylvania "Dutch" (who were actually German migrants) and copies of English glass for sale in New York and Boston. Steigel’s glass is almost indistinguishable from the European originals but proved too expensive. His glassworks closed in 1774.

Despite many attempts, There was little important glass production in America from this time until after 1824. In that year, glass was given tariff protection. This was increased in 1828 and 1832. From about 1815 to 1830, "blown-three-mould" glass was popular. This was imitation cut glass produced in a three- part mould. The first successful flint-glass factory was Bakewells, established by Benjamin Page and Thomas Bakewell in Pittsburgh in 1809. The factory made English-style cut and engraved glass. In 1825, John Bakewell obtained a patent on machine pressing of glass. By the middle of the century his machine had made mass production possible. By 1852, the price of glass had dropped so much that its consumption had increased ten-fold.

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