1933 Cyma Silver Half Hunter Pocket Watch for J W Benson

1933 Cyma silver half hunter pocket watch for J W Benson.

The watch has a 16-jewel Swiss stem-winding movement, identified as by Cyma, which is working nicely. The movement is signed J W Benson.

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.

The movement is protected by an inner dust cover which has a little scatching where it has been opened in the past.

The watch measures 50mm diameter excluding the winding stem and the loop. The case is silver and there are hallmarks inside the three covers for Birmingham 1933, with a case maker’s mark for Aaron Dennison. Dennisons was a case manufacturing company based in Birmingham, and they supplied various watch makers with cases.

The front of the case has a small central lens surrounded by enamel filled Roman numerals. The front cover has a couple of little marks where the loop has pressed into it slightly. The case back has the same marks, and some unevenness.

The winding crown pushes in to open the front cover. Inside, there is an acrylic lens. The lens looks good to the naked eye. If viewed more closely, there are sweeping marks, probably where a hand has rubbed on the lens over the years, but it is no longer rubbing.

The signed dial has blued steel hands, including the special half hunter hour hand so that the time can be read when the front cover is closed. There are four hairline cracks to the dial but they are very faint.

The watch comes 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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