Antique “Ghandi” Zenith Alarm Pocket Watch

Antique “Ghandi” Zenith alarm pocket watch.

This particular model of watch is known as the “Ghandi” because of an anecdote Mahatma Ghandi wrote in his own journal about an unfortunate occurrence. Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s Prime Minister from 1947 to 1964, gifted a 1910 Zenith pocket watch to Gandhi. This silver pocket watch became one of his rare few material possessions and accompanied his daily life, notably signalling his prayer times thanks to its alarm function. The watch was subsequently stolen during a train journey to Kanpur, but the thief, overwhelmed by guilt, returned it a few months later, begging Ghandi’s forgiveness. Hence the name the “Ghandi” Zenith alarm watch.

This particular watch that we are offering for sale has a Swiss stem-winding movement, signed Zenith, which is working nicely. The movement is protected by an inner cover which has some surface marking, which is quite usual for gun metal.

The watch measures 47mm diameter excluding the winding stem and the loop. The case is gun metal with gold plated embellishments. The back cover is hinged in such a way that it can be stood up to act as a small clock. The case is in good condition, as is the glass lens.

The dial is signed with the name of the original retailer, Brook & Son of Edinburgh. There is a small chip just above the centre, and three very faint hairlines, difficult to see even with a jeweller’s loupe. Original pin-set hands. The painted detail has been removed from the numbers over the years. Nicely marked with the word alarm, indicating which pin set button is used for setting.

The watch comes in a vintage presentation box but not the original.

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Please contact us regarding international shipping.

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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With regards to appraisals / valuations, we receive a huge number of information requests each day and unfortunately do not have the manpower to deal with them all individually. Our advice would be to contact a local auctioneer for a full appraisal.