Antique Silver Half Hunter Pocket Watch for Dent

Antique silver half hunter pocket watch, examined by Dent.

The watch has a high grade stem-winding movement which is working nicely. Dent bought in watches / movements from high end manufacturers such as Badollet and Vacheron Constantin. They would then be examined to confirm that they met their high standards, basically a guarantee of quality for retail purposes.

The movement is protected by an inner hinged cover inscribed with the wording, ‘Examined by Dent, 61 Strand and 4 Royal Exchange, London’. Dent was registered at these addresses in 1886.

Dent’s high standards earned the company a Royal Warrant as the official watch and clockmaker to Her Majesty Queen Victoria and HRH Albert Prince of Wales in 1841, a warrant that was subsequently renewed through to George V’s reign. Russian emperors Tsar Alexander III and Tsar Nicolas II, and the Japanese Emperor Mejii also issued Dent with Royal Warrants.

This particular watch measures 47mm diameter excluding the winding stem and the loop. The case is 935 silver and there are Continental marks inside all three covers. The case has some surface marking, including some fairly light scratching by number 12 on the front cover, and some gentle unevenness to the back of the watch.

The back of the watch has a crest depicting a dragon’s head rising out of a coronet. This was the crest for the Wright family from Staffordshire, England (taken from Fairbairn’s Book of Crests, 1905 edition).

The front cover is released by pressing in the winding stem and then manually opening.

Inside there is an acrylic lens with light marking.

The dial is in lovely condition and has pin-set blued steel hands including the special half hunter hour hand so that the time can be read when the front cover is closed.

The watch comes in an antique wooden presentation box, probably from a subsequent retailer.

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.