Silver Invar Full Hunter Pocket Watch with Chain

A 1930s silver Invar full hunter pocket watch.

The Invar watch company was founded in 1901 by Achille Hirsch in Le Chaux de Fonds, but the name was not registered until 1925. Mr. Hirsch was a rather prolific watch distributor around the turn of the century, who registered hundreds of trademarks, so to some degree this watch represents an attempt to profit from the new material, Invar.

Invar is an alloy which, when used in watches, makes them non-magnetic and good steady time keepers through a wide range of temperatures. Invar was invented in 1896 by Swiss scientist Charles Édouard Guillaume. He received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1920 for this discovery, which enabled improvements in scientific instruments

The watch has a signed stem-winding movement (with a particularly interesting regulator) which is working nicely. It is protected by an inner hinged dust cover which is engraved with the Invar logo.

The watch itself measures 50mm diameter excluding the winding stem and the loop. The case is silver and there are Continental hallmarks inside both of the back covers. The outside of the case is exquisitely decorated on both the front and the back and it is in lovely condition with just one small indentation next to the hinge.

The winding stem pushes in to open the front cover. Inside there is an acrylic lens which is in good condition. It is very common for the original glass lenses to be replaced and we see this often… it is difficult to tell the difference as they look so similar but they are a lot more durable.

The white enamel dial is signed with the Invar name, together with the name of the original Indonesian retailer, Maurice Wolf, Soerabaia-Batavia, Medan. There is a faint hairline running horizontally across the lower half of the dial but it is very faint. At least one of the hands is a later replacement.

The watch comes with an antique single silver chain, 32cm long, which also has a silver fob hallmarked for 1909.

The watch will be sent 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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