Silver Cyma Pocket Watch for J W Benson.

Silver Cyma pocket watch for J W Benson.

The watch has a stem-winding Cyma movement which is working nicely. The movement is fully signed with the J W Benson name.

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 wristwatch 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.

The movement is protected by an inner hinged cover which has some surface marking.

The watch measures 49.2mm diameter excluding the winding crown and the loop. The case is silver and there are hallmarks inside the two back covers for Bimingham 1937 with a maker's mark for Aaron Dennison. The Dennison Watch Company was a prolific manufacturer of cases and supplied various watch makers.

Overall, the outer case is in good condition, just a couple of small "dings" to the outer edge of the back cover but nothing serious at all. The case back has monogrammed initials

The watch glass is in nice condition.

The signed dial is in nice condition and has gold hands, a subsidiary seconds dial and an outer minute track.

The watch will be sent in a new presentation box.

ALL PRICES INCLUDE UK POSTAGE (because of GPSR legislation, we no longer post items less than 100 years old to Europe, including Northern Ireland).

Please contact us regarding international shipping.

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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Credit / debit card purchases up to £300 can be made over the telephone on 01386 750238 or you can proceed via the 'Purchase Antique' button on each listing page. Alternatively, there is a Paypal payment link if you scroll down the page and we also accept bank transfers.

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With regards to appraisals / valuations, we receive a huge number of information requests each day and unfortunately do not have the manpower to deal with them all individually. Our advice would be to contact a local auctioneer for a full appraisal.