An Antique Minerva Half Hunter Pocket Watch

The watch has a good quality stem-winding movement with 17 jewels and four adjustments, jewelled pallets and whiplash regulator, which is working nicely. The movement is protected by an inner hinged cover.

The watch itself measures 50mm diameter excluding the winding stem and the loop. The case is silver and there are hallmarks inside the case back for London (import mark), 1910 with a sponsor’s (or importer’s) mark for William Henry Sparrow of H Williamson Ltd and Büren. The case has the odd mark and some unevenness to the case back but otherwise is in good condition. Originally there would have been engine turned detail to both the front and back but this has worn off over the years, just through repeated handling of the watch. The front cover has a small lens surrounded by enamel filled Roman numerals.

The winding crown pushes in to open the front cover. Inside there is a gold plated bezel with an acrylic lens. We don’t recall having seen a gold bezel on a silver watch so suspect it might be a later replacement. The acrylic lens was probably fitted to replace a broken glass one, we often see this as acrylic is a much more durable material.

The white enamel dial is in lovely condition. Note the special hour hand for half hunter watches, so that the hands can be distinguished between when the front cover is closed.

The watch comes 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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