Gents Ww1 Antique Silver Trench Watch, Borgel Case

Gents WW1 antique silver trench watch, Borgel case.

The watch has a Swiss hand-winding movement which is working nicely. The movement has been identified as being by Fabrique d'Horlogerie de Fontainemelon, a Swiss movement manufacturer.

The watch measures 35mm diameter excluding the onion winding crown and the fixed wire lugs. The case is silver and there are hallmarks inside the case back for London 1918 with a sponsor’s mark for Arthur George 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 inside of the case back also has the mark for François Borgel. He was a very successful inventor and business man, and his company became one of the most important watch case manufacturers of its time. He advertised his screw watch case, such as this example, as "imperméable", which means that he considered his screw case to be waterproof . Early adopters of the Borgel screw case included Longines and IWC. After François Borgel’s death in 1912, the business was carried on by his daughter Louisa. As with any vintage watch, however, it should be kept away from water and moisture.

The case has minor marks but overall is in good condition for such an early piece.

The lens is in lovely condition.

The dial, with the blue number 12, is in good condition, just a chip to the edge which is mostly covered by the bezel. Pin-set hands.

A new leather strap has been fitted.

The watch comes 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.

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