A Gents 1930s Art Deco 9ct Gold Vertex Wrist Watch

A gents 1930s Art Deco 9ct gold Vertex wrist watch.

The watch has a Swiss hand-winding movement with 15 jewels which is working nicely and the time keeping is good to within around two minutes over 24 hours. The movement is signed with the VW initials for Vertex Watch Company.

In 1859, Louis Tschopp and Gédéon Thommen ran the Societe d’Horlogerie in Waldenburg Switzerland and eventually Gédéon Thommen took over the sole ownership and he renamed the company Gédéon Thommen. Thommen started to build lever movements with the aim of developing a manufacturing process whereby the components were interchangeable. Upon his father's death, Alphonse Thommen took over the business and by 1890, the factory was producing 13,000 watches per year. By 1929 Thommen had registered the brand name Vertex specifically to market the watches in the UK.

Early Vertex watches were very functional with most being modified pocket watches with simple wire lugs. However, by the 1920s and early 1930s, the fashion for Art Deco soon became incorporated into Vertex watches resulting in some striking Art Deco pieces. Unfortunately the economic crash of the late 1920s / early 1930s hit the watch making industry hard and in fact saw the demise of many watch making companies but Thommen began manufacturing aviation navigational instruments and time pieces, many of which were bought by the British and German armed forces.

This particular watch measures 25mm wide excluding the winding crown and 37mm high including the lugs. The case is 9 carat gold and there are hallmarks inside the hinged case back for Birmingham 1936 with a maker’s mark for the English watch case maker Aaron Dennison together with the Vertex stamp. The case is in good condition for a 1930s piece with general light surface marks and a couple of minor indentations to the back.

The convex lens has minor marking but is very acceptable.

The dial has definite Art Deco influence … it is in its original finish and there is some light marking but overall very nice for such an early piece. Breguet style hands, a subsidiary seconds dial and a minute track.

A later black leather strap has been fitted.

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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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