# Jw Benson



## tommbe

HI guys, new to your forum ,ihave just recently bought this 9 caret gold jw benson gents wristwatch . Ihave had the dial renewed as the origonal numbers had mostly worn away. You can clearly see the date 1937 and the royal ensignia on the back of the case , just wondering if anyone had seen one of these before. Ihave searched the net , but nothing so far. Many Thanks, Tommbe.


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## Drum2000

Hi. If you post some photos that would be very helpful. If you need info on how to post a photo here it is -

You need a photobucket account. Upload your image to photobucket. Click on the IMG code and copy it. Paste it in the text box on this forum (you don't have to use the "insert Image" facility) and presto! You're away!

Looking forward to seeing what you have (though I may not know anything about it).


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## tommbe




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## tommbe

would like to show photos , but still trying to work out how.sorry


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## tommbe




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## tommbe




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## tommbe




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## louiswu

Hi. J W Benson's come up on ebay and at other auctions pretty regularly. I believe they were a London-based watchmaker from the late 19th to mid 20th century, and they held the royal warrant. (ie.. were authorised to stamp 'by appointment to the king' and the royal seal on their watches).

When you say the dial was renewed, was it repainted or replaced?


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## tommbe

louiswu said:


> Hi. J W Benson's come up on ebay and at other auctions pretty regularly. I believe they were a London-based watchmaker from the late 19th to mid 20th century, and they held the royal warrant. (ie.. were authorised to stamp 'by appointment to the king' and the royal seal on their watches).
> 
> When you say the dial was renewed, was it repainted or replaced?


 The watch face i am told was repainted, and the old glass replaced. thanks for the info, Tom.


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## Sancho Panza

Could it have been engraved as a commemorative piece for the coronation of George VI in 1937?


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## louiswu

With it being 9ct there should be a date mark on the inside of the case back.

Can we get a sneaky-peeky?


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## tommbe

The hallmarks consist of the number 9 followed by 375 followed by an anchor then theletter m


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## louiswu

tommbe said:


> The hallmarks consist of the number 9 followed by 375 followed by an anchor then the letter m


Hi. Your watch intrigued me (like most watches on here do) so i did a little research.

I came up with more questions than answers though. 

The J W Benson factory in London was bombed during WW1 and after that they were a retailer rather than a manufacturer. They did use some fancy movements in their watches, but if there's no maker's mark on the movement i'd guess it's a swiss generic.

The case was assayed in Birmingham in 1936, assuming the M looks like this...









I don't know where they got their cases if they didn't make them themselves, or how long after assay a case might typically be built into a watch and sold.

As for the engraving, I think Benson only held the royal warrant during Victoria's reign, so it's probably not a 'by appointment' type. Like Sancho Panza said, George VI was crowned in 1937. To me, that points to the watch being engraved by a retailer as a commemorative piece.

Whether that would be when it was first sold, or sometime in the intervening 70 years ? .. i wouldn't like to guess.

I'm no expert, just a keen researcher. I'd happily stand corrected on any of the above.

Personally, i think it's a lovely looking watch. I like moon hands on old watches. :thumbup:

What size is it?


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## tommbe

The m stamped on the case does indeed look like that , the case itself is stamped ALD. As for the watch size i havent measured one before , but if i have done it correctly it is 25mm lug to lug and 25mm from crown across. Many thanks for the info, much appreciated. Tom.


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