Gents Antique Ww1 9ct Gold Wrist Watch, J W Benson

UK POSTAGE ONLY

Gents antique WW1 9ct gold wrist watch, 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 as we have in this particular watch. From a collector’s point of view, both the British and Swiss made J W Benson movements are desirable and comparable in quality.

The15-jewel Cyma movement is working nicely.

The watch measures 32mm diameter excluding the winding crown and the fixed wire lugs. The case is 9 carat gold and there are hallmarks inside the hinged case back for Birmingham 1914 with a case maker’s mark for Aaron Dennison. The Dennison Watch Case Company supplied cases to various watch manufacturers. Often movements were imported from Switzerland and they were subsequently cased in the UK, this avoided any import taxes on precious metals.

The case is in good condition, a couple of small “dings” to the back and light surface marks also to the back, but nothing too serious.

The lens is in lovely condition.

The signed dial has a couple of faint hairlines but not too noticeable to the naked eye. Originally there was problem painted detail to the hands and numbers but this has been removed over the years, probably because of radium content.

A new leather strap has been fitted.

The watch comes in an J W Benson presentation box. It is tatty, and the bottom section of the box has warped, but still nice to have the 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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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.