Silver Smiths Pocket Watch for J W Benson & Chain

Silver Smiths pocket watch for J W Benson, & chain.

The watch has a 15-jewel stem-winding movement, marked ‘Made in England’ and identified as by Smiths of Cheltenham, which is working nicely. The movement is protected by an inner hinged dust cover. There are three purposely made holes next to this back cover but their purpose is unclear, the holes cannot be seen when the case back is closed.

The watch measures 49mm diameter excluding the winding stem and the loop. The case is silver and there are hallmarks inside both of the case backs for Birmingham 1954 with a maker’s mark for the Birmingham based case maker Aaron Dennison, a prolific manufacturer of cases for various watch makers. The front and sides of the case are in good condition, just a hint of slight unevenness to the side. The hinged case back has some unevenness and general surface scratches.

The glass lens is in good condition.

The dial is signed with the name of the original retailer of the watch, J W Benson, London. Blued steel hands, a subsidiary seconds dial and an outer minute track. There is some damage towards the edge of the dial, by number 10. The bottom of the dial has the wording ‘Made in England’ which ties up nicely with the English movement.

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.

The watch comes with a Victorian single silver chain, 32cm long including the T-bar and the clasp. The clasp is a slightly later Edwardian replacement and the T-bar is a fairly recent replacement. Also included is a Victorian 1887 coin.

The watch and chain come 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.

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.