Gents Silver Ww1 Marconi Trench Watch, 1917

Gents silver WW1 Marconi trench watch, 1917.

The watch has a Swiss 15-jewel movement by the General Watch Company which is working nicely. Later watches with this movement are engraved with the Marconi name but prior to the 1920s retailers objected to any branding on the movement. In other words, it is correct that this particular movement is not branded.

The watch measures 33mm diameter excluding the later winding crown and fixed wire lugs. The case is silver and there are hallmarks inside the case back for London, 1917 together with the W&D sponsor’s mark for Wilsdorf & Davis (founders of Rolex) who registered the Marconi Lever name in January 1911.

The inner case back also carries the GS initials for George Stockwell. From 1 June 1907, Stockwells acted as assay agents, facilitating the import into Britain of foreign gold and silver items which had to be assayed and hallmarked in a UK assay office before being released for retail.

The case is in good condition for such an early piece. There is the odd mark but nothing serious. The top wire lug has been re-soldered on at some stage in the past, but is nice and solid.

The glass lens is in lovely condition.

The watch has its original dial although it has sustained some damage in the past. The damage is just to the right of the centre, and there are radiating hairlines . As with the movement, the dial would not have been signed as retailers did not allow branding until well into the 1920s.

To sum up, this is a Marconi Lever watch, with a movement made by the General Watch Company and sold by the Rolex Watch Company.

A new leather strap has been fitted.

The watch comes in a new presentation box.

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All of our watches are checked over before listing, and are also checked for accuracy which is usually within around +/- two to three minutes over 24 hours (unless otherwise stated), which is considered respectable for a vintage watch.

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