Antique Silver J W Benson Pocket Watch, Military

Antique silver J W Benson pocket watch, military.

The watch has an English hand-winding movement, The Ludgate, which is working nicely. The movement is fully signed, and it has the patent number 4658 which was for an integrated dust ring which also acted as a movement carrier. The movement also has the wording, ‘To HM The Late Queen’.

The movement is protected by an inner hinged cover which has an inscription, ‘Presented to C Sgt F (or J) E Dunn, 2nd King’s Shropshire Light Infantry by the Members of the Sergts Mess on his leaving the service, 1912’.

John Edward Dunn born near Llanelli in 1874 and enlisted in November 1892. His service number was 3897. He had two spells of service in India but mainly served at home. He was awarded the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal in 1911. He was discharged on the 28th of November 1913 which fits with the watch inscription. Mr Dunn re-enlisted in November 1914 at the outbreak of the First World War and served in the Army Pay Corps - given his age it would have been unlikely that he would have been considered for active service. He was discharged (again) in 1920 and died in 1939.

The watch measures 53mm diameter excluding the winding stem and the loop. The case is silver and there are hallmarks inside both of the case backs for London 1911, with a sponsor’s mark for J W Benson. The front and sides of the case are in super condition. The hinged case back has light surface marks and the odd minor indentation but nothing serious at all. Overall, very nice condition for a watch of this age.

The watch glass is in lovely condition.

The signed dial is in super condition with original pin-set hands, a subsidiary seconds dial and outer minute markers.

The watch comes in its original J W Benson 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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