Antique Half Hunter Pocket Watch, Sir John Bennett

Antique half hunter pocket watch, Sir John Bennett.

The watch has a Swiss 15 jewel (2 adjustments) stem-winding movement which is working nicely. The movement is protected by an inner hinged cover.

The watch measures 50mm diameter excluding the winding stem and the loop. The case is the gold plated Star model from the Birmingham based case maker Aaron Dennison. Dennisons manufactured cases for various watch makers. The case is in very nice condition.

The front cover has a clear central lens surrounded by enamel filled Roman numerals.

The winding crown pushes in to open the front cover. Inside, there is an acrylic lens which is in lovely condition.

The dial is signed with the name Sir John Bennett Ltd, London. It is in very nice condition and has blued steel hands, including the special half hunter hour hand so that the time can be read when the front cover is closed.

John Bennett (1814 – 1897) was one of the most controversial characters in British horology and, in many aspects one of the most advanced. He greatly advocated the Swiss methods of manufacture where parts were interchangeable rather than being made for each individual watch. This put him in conflict with many of his colleagues. It was even said that the establishment of the British Horological Institute was designed to protect decent watchmakers from “new brooms” like Bennett.

As well as manufacturing, he also retailed from a rather grand shop in Cheapside, London, which is where this particular watch would originally have come from.

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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