1909 Gents Silver Longines Wrist Watch, Sir John Bennett

1909 gents silver Longines wrist watch originally retailed by Sir John Bennett.

The watch has a good quality Longines hand-winding movement, in-house calibre 13.68, which is working nicely.

The movement is protected by an inner cover which is beautifully engraved with the wording, 'Maker to the Late Queen Victoria, Sir John Bennett Ltd, 65 Cheapside, EC & 105 Regent Street, W, London.

John Bennett (1814 – 1897) was one of the most controversial characters in British horology and, in many aspects one of the most advanced. He was educated to become a pastor, but after the death of his father he entered the family antique clock and watch business, which was established by his grandfather in Greenwich. He was one of a small number of British watchmakers who saw the need for modernization of the current methods of manufacturing he employed many machine tools and lectured about them, advocating Swiss production methods and interchangeability of parts, which put him in conflict with many of his colleagues. It was even said that the establishment of the British Horological Institute was designed to protect decent watchmakers from “new brooms” like Bennett. He was probably the first British watchmaker to employ modern methods of business with lavish advertising and with use of political influences. In 1872 he received a knighthood. Bennett took part in many World Exhibits and received many awards and prizes. He became a Maker to the Royal Observatory, to the Admiralty and to the Queen. After his retirement in 1889 the firm became a limited company producing in the Bennett tradition until 1940.

The watch measures 35mm diameter excluding the winding crown and the fixed wire lugs. The case is silver and there are hallmarks inside two case backs for London (import mark), 1909 with an importer's mark for Alfred Baume, importer of Longines watches into the UK and the Commonwealth.

The case has a little unevenness to the hinged case back but overall is in very nice condition.

The later acrylic lens is in good condition.

The dial is in very nice condition with original pin-set hands and centre seconds sweep which is a really unusual feature to see on a watch from this era.

The watch has a vintage leather strap.

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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