Antique Silver Borgel Cased Trench Watch with History

Antique silver Borgel cased trench watch with history.

The watch has Swiss hand-winding movement which is working nicely. We believe this to be a Fabrique d'Horlogerie de Fontainemelon movement.

The watch measures 34.5mm diameter excluding the winding crown and the fixed wire lugs. The case is silver and it has hallmarks for London 1917 together with a sponsor’s mark for Arthur Rendell. In 1907, an act came into force which meant that all imported watches had to be assayed in a UK assay office and marked with British import hallmarks. For this, a sponsor's mark was required. In this particular case, Arthur Rendell was an employee, and probably in charge, of the department that handled imported watches at a company called Pringles, the UK's largest wholesalers of jewellery, silverware, clocks and watches, so it was deemed relevant to use his initials.

The inside of the case back also has the mark for François Borgel. He was a very successful inventor and business man, and his company became one of the most important watch case manufacturers of its time. He advertised his screw watch case, such as this example, as "imperméable", which means that he considered his screw case to be waterproof . Early adopters of the Borgel screw case included Longines and IWC. After François Borgel’s death in 1912, the business was carried on by his daughter Louisa. As with any vintage watch, however, we would not recommend that it is treated as still being waterproof or even water protected.

The case is in good condition, just a couple of slithers of silver missing from the bezel but you have to look very closely to see it. The back of the watch is engraved J H Early, Witney. This is believed to be James Harold Early, director of Charles Early & Co of Witney Mills, Oxford, English blanket makers producting some 700,000 blankets a year during the World War 2 era.

Mr Early was heavily involved in local issues and organisations being on the MMS Committee and President of the Methodist Laymen's Missionary Movement (later known as Methodists for World Mission) in 1939 and he was also involved with the Boys' Brigade. He regularly organised Boys' Brigade camps on the Isle of Wight assisted by Brigade leaders from London. Witney Boys' Brigade would go to camp for two weeks each year. James would sometimes stay for six weeks organising the camp, and occasionally took his family. At the outbreak of the First World War, James Harold Early along with other old Boys' Brigade men from Witney volunteered and joined the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. James was severely wounded in 1915; he convalesced at home and was due to return to the front when the armistice was declared.

A listing taken from the London Gazette of December 1915 lists James Harold Early to be Second Lieutenant, The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry.

The Temperance movement ideals were taken up by several mill owners such as James Harold Early, who having taken the pledge maintained a teetotal household at his home in Newland. It is told that when blanket buyers came to his house for lunch, they thought they were going to get cider to drink and were disappointed to receive a non-alcoholic equivalent known as 'Cyrax'.

In 1922 James Harold Early stood unsuccessfully as a Liberal candidate in Banbury.

He passed away in 1958 aged 77.

The lens is in lovely condition.

The dial has some damage around the centre of the subsidiary seconds dial but otherwise is in good condition. Original pin-set hands, a subsidiary seconds dial and outer minute track.

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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