Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm Opinion on the Financial Statements Adoption of ASU No. 2016-02 (Topic 842) Basis for Opinion We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of The Eastern Company (the Company) as of December 28, 2019 and December 29, 2018, and the related consolidated statements of income, comprehensive income, stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the years in the two-year period ended December 28, 2019, and the related notes and schedules (collectively referred to as the financial statements). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 28, 2019 and  December 29, 2018, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the years in the two-year period ended December 28, 2019, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. To the Board of Directors and Shareholders of The Eastern Company Naugatuck, Connecticut We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 28, 2019, based on criteria established in  Internal Control—Integrated Framework (2013)  issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO), and our report dated March 5, 2020 expressed an unqualified opinion. As discussed in Note 3 to the financial statements, the Company changed its method of accounting for leases in the 2019 financial statements to reflect the accounting method change due to the adoption of ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842). These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB. We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion. /s/Fiondella, Milone & LaSaracina LLP Fiondella, Milone & LaSaracina LLP We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2009. Glastonbury, Connecticut March 5, 2020 62