Gents 1937 Silver Art Deco Cyma Watch, Jw Benson

A boxed silver Art Deco wrist watch originally retailed by J W Benson of London.

J W Benson originated in 1847, founded by James William Benson and Samuel Suckley Benson. They were regarded as one of Victorian London’s most prestigious retail jewellers and they also manufactured their own watch movements. The company flourished and proudly boasted an elite client base made up of both British and European royalty and a selection of well heeled industrialists and business figures including the King of Siam, the King of Portugal, the King of Denmark, the Emperor of Japan, the Tsar of Russia and the King of Greece. J W Benson also supplied watches to Queen Victoria and the Prince of Wales.

As with many watch manufacturers, J W Benson embraced the newly introduced wrist watch during the first World War. Up until this point, the company was still manufacturing its own movements in the UK but after its factory at Belle Sauvage Yard was hit during a bombing raid in 1914, it purchased mechanisms from a number of quality movement producers in Switzerland, including Cyma. From a collector’s point of view, both the British and Swiss made J W Benson movements are desirable and comparable in quality.

This particular watch has a high grade Swiss 15-jewel hand-winding movement, a Cyma 364, which is working nicely.

The watch itself measures 22mm wide excluding the winding crown and 31.5mm high excluding the lugs. The case is silver and there are hallmarks inside the hinged case back for Glasgow 1937 with an importer’s mark (or sponsor’s mark) for J W Benson. Overall the case is in good condition, just a few surface marks but nothing too detrimental at all.

The convex lens is in good condition.

The signed dial is in lovely condition and the stylised numbers are most attractive.

A new leather strap has been fitted.

The watch comes in a vintage presentation box, a little tatty but still good to have.

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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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