1924 English Silver Hunter Pocket Watch & Chain

Antique silver half hunter pocket watch from the Goldsmiths & Silversmiths Company Ltd with single albert and fob.

The watch has a stem winding movement, made by Rotherhams & Son and is signed as such underneath the dial. The company evolved from S Vale who were established in 1747. To begin with, the company bought in ebauché (or blank movements) but in the latter part of the 19th Century they began to manufacture their own movements. By the late 1880s, they were considered to be an important Coventry watch manufacturer producing 100 units a week. 

The company continued to grow and it is estimated that they manufactured some 600,000 movements between 1880 and 1930. While not as prolific as some of the big Swiss and American factories, such as Waltham who produced 26 million in the same period, they were still considered to be among the best English “volume” maker. 

Rotherhams later diversified into cycle and automobile parts and watch manufacturing ceased in the 1930s.  

The movement is signed Goldsmiths & Silversmiths Company Ltd, 112 Regent St, London and they would have been the original retailer of the watch.

The movement is protected by an inner hinged cover upon which is engraved ‘Jack from Maury, February 1927’.

The watch measures 49mm diameter excluding the winding stem and the loop. The case is silver and there are hallmarks inside all three covers for Birmingham 1924 together with a maker’s mark for R&S, Rotherham & Sons. The case is in good condition. The front cover has a small lens surrounded by Roman numerals with enamel infill and the back of the watch has the initials WFB which suggests the watch was given as a gift on two occasions, perhaps handed down as an heirloom.

The winding crown pushes in to open the front cover.

Inside there is an acrylic lens which is in good condition. Originally the watch would have had a glass lens but often these have been replaced over the years with acrylic which is much more durable.

The white enamel dial is in good condition… if viewed very closely, there are two very faint short hairline cracks. Blued steel hands, including the special half hunter hour hand which means the time can be read even when the front cover is closed.

The watch comes on a single silver chain, 34cm long including the T-bar and the clasp. The chain is hallmarked on each of the links but the marks are quite rubbed. The chain probably dates to the late Victorian period.

The watch and chain 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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