Gents Silver Half Hunter Wrist Watch, 1925

Gents silver half hunter wrist watch, 1925.

The watch has a hand-winding movement, identified as being from the factory of Fabrique d'Horlogerie de Fontainemelon, which is working nicely and keeping good time to around five minutes over 24 hours.

The watch is a good wearable size at 35mm diameter excluding the winding crown and the fixed wire lugs. The case is silver and there are hallmarks inside the case back for Edinburgh (import mark) 1925 with an importer or sponsor's mark for Arthur Rendell.

In 1907, an act came into force which meant that all imported watches had to be assayed in a UK assay office and marked with British import hallmarks. For this, a sponsor's mark was required. In this particular case, Arthur Rendell was an employee, and probably in charge, of the department that handled imported watches at a company called Pringles, the UK's largest wholesalers of jewellery, silverware, clocks and watches, so it was deemed relevant to use his initials.

The case has a screw-on back, a nice sign of quality, and it is all in lovely condition, especially for such an early piece, with just the odd minor mark. The front cover has a central lens (with a little marking) surrounded by enamel filled numbers. The button between the bottom lugs is pressed to open the front cover.

The inside lens is in lovely condition.

The enamel dial has a few faint hairline cracks but they are difficult to see with the naked eye. The enamel is on to a copper backing so everything is stable and secure.

The watch comes on a later leather strap with a 1940s deployment clasp which has various patent / registered design numbers.

The watch will be sent 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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