1915 Waltham Hunter Pocket Watch, Kirkcaldy

An antique Waltham full hunter pocket watch with history.

The watch has a stem-winding movement, grade 610, which is working nicely. The movement is signed and the serial number 20,284,713 which dates it back to 1915. The movement is beautifully damascened and the whole movement is covered by a protective hinged cover. Upon the cover is a charming inscription to a Mr D Pearson from Kirkcaldy PSA in appreciation of his services as Conductor of the Orchestra, Oct 1917.

PSA stood for Pleasant Sunday Afternoon. The movement began when a business man, John Blackman who was also a member of the Ebeneezer Congregational Church, found himself locked out of a Moody and Sankey Sunday afternoon meeting in the town hall. He asked around to see if he could find another young men’s meeting and he was directed to the Steelhouse Lane Congregational Church where he joined with 30 other young men. John Blackman returned to West Bromwich determined to emulate the success of the popular Town Hall meeting and, with the help of some friends, gathered 120 men at the Ebeneezer Church. The meetings became so popular, they had to hold them in the church rather than the school room.

The name Pleasant Sunday Afternoon came about through a train journey made by John Blackham. In the carriage he was travelling in were a number of men who by their conversation made him think they were ex-jailbirds who were planning to have some fun at his expense. To forestall what could have been a little embarrassing for him, John Blackham asked them the following question: "What sort of bible class would you rather have than go to a horse race or a cock fight?" They answered that they had nothing against the bible, but did the services in church need to be so blessed dull? This answer caused John Blackham to use the word 'pleasant' when describing his meetings and so the name 'Pleasant Sunday Afternoon' was applied to the movement.

The watch itself measures 50mm diameter excluding the winding stem and the loop. The case is gold plated and was made in England by Aaron Dennison (Dennison Watch Case Company). This was their top of the range gold plated model, the Sun model, which was originally guaranteed to wear 25 years. The front of the case has very elaborate initials, DP. Overall the case is in very nice condition for its age, just a slight indentation to the back along with a little marking.

The winding crown pushes in to open the front cover. Inside there is an acrylic lens. Original glass lenses were often replaced with acrylic lenses when they broke, offering a more durable solution.

The signed dial has a couple of faint hairline cracks. Blued steel hands, a subsidiary seconds dial and an outer minute track.

The watch will be sent in a new presentation box.

(PSA information taken from John Richards’ The Black Country Man Vol 2)

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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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