Gents 1940s 9ct Gold Vertex Wrist Watch

A gents 9 carat gold Vertex cushion cased wrist watch.

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 wrist 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 expanded his business by manufacturing aviation navigational instruments and time pieces, many of which were bought by the British and German armed forces.

This particular watch has a calibre 59 15-jewel hand-winding movement which is working nicely. The movement is signed both VWC and Vertex.

The watch itself measures 29.5mm high excluding the lugs and 29.5mm wide excluding the winding crown so it would suit a man with a slimmer wrist. The case is 9 carat gold and there are hallmarks inside the case back for Birmingham 1948 and was made by the Dennison Watch Case Company for Vertex (whose name is also inside the case back).

The back of the watch has a “good service” inscription from Lever Brothers. There is some rubbing to the inscription making it a little tricky to read but it is dated 1944. There is a four year discrepancy between this date and the hallmark but we often see this, particularly after the War so possibly due to precious metal shortages. There is a little marking to the case, and some gentle unevenness to the back, but overall the watch is very acceptable for a 1940s piece.

The lens is in good condition.

The signed dial is in good condition.

A later dark brown leather strap has been fitted.

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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