Gents Ww1 Robert Frères Villeret Silver Trench Watch

A gents WW1 Robert Frères Villeret silver trench watch.

In 1858, the company H & C Robert was founded by two brothers and initially they bought in Fontainemelon movements for their watches. The company went on to evolve and in 1885 the company name was changed to Robert Frères Villeret, hence the RFV logo which is underneath the dial on this particular movement. The company was well respected and went on to win trade medals at various exhibitions including Antwerp and Paris.

The movement in this watch is working well and it is protected by an inner hinged cover.

The watch measures 31mm diameter excluding the winding crown and the articulated lugs, rather than the fixed wire lugs. It is on the small side for a gent’s watch so would suit a slimmer wrist. The case is silver and there are hallmarks inside the case back for Glasgow (import mark), 1917. The front of the case is in good condition while there is some unevenness to the back.

The glass is in good order with just a very small chip to the edge.

The white enamel dial is original to the watch and it has sustained some damage during its lifetime. There is damage at number 11, and a subsequent old repair, together with a chip to the edge of the dial between 4 and 5, and a couple of hairline cracks running from number 3. Some of the infill has come out of the hands.

The watch strap was replaced in 1920… there are hallmarks to this effect on the silver buckle. The strap has also been fitted the opposite way to what we would usually expect to see which suggests the wearer was left handed.

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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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