Antique Silver Pocket Watch & Chain, Frys Chocolate, Bristol

Antique silver pocket watch & chain, Frys chocolate, Bristol.

The watch has a Swiss 17-jewel stem-winding movement, identified as by Moeris, which is working nicely. The movement is signed Kemp Brothers which suggests that this watch was made as a private label piece, ie, made by Moeris but signed by and sold as a Kemp Brothers piece.

The movement is protected by an inner hinged cover which has a lovely inscription, 'Presented to Frederick William Woodhead, by the Directors of J S Fry & Sons Ltd, on his retirement after 35 years' service, Dec 5th 1925'. Frys was established in 1753 when ships would sail into the port of Bristol carrying precious cargo, including cocoa which Joseph Fry believed had health giving properties and he saw it as a nutritious alternative to alcohol. The business grew and became so well established that by the time of the first World War, Frys were the biggest employer in Bristol. In 1919 they merged with Cadburys.

The watch measures 52mm diameter excluding the winding crown and the loop. The case is silver and there are hallmarks inside both of the case backs for Birmingham 1924 with a case maker's mark for Aaron Dennison, a prolific case manufacturer who supplied many watch manufacturers with cases. The front of the case is in good condition, the hinged case back has a few little “dings”.

The later acrylic lens is in good condition.

The dial is signed with the name of the Bristol jewellers, Kemp Brothers of Union Street, a company that continues to trade today.

The watch comes with an Edwardian single silver chain, 29cm long including the T-bar and the clasp. There is also a silver fob with a rose gold wash to the front, engraved with the initials CBA and '3rd teams 1907-08, 2nd, G H Gough'. The weight of the chain and fob is 28g.

The watch and chain will come in a new presentation box.

The Frys advert shown in the photo is not included (this is just a print off).

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.

We are a VAT registered company and all purchases are covered by Consumer Regulations.

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.

We are an on-line only business and do not have facilities for callers. Our offices are open from Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm.

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.