# Interesting Find



## knirirr (May 5, 2008)

Whilst at lunch today I had a quick look through a flea market and found the watch below. Apologies for the poor pictures; my decent camera is not available at the moment.



















There are some markings inside the case which appear to me to say that it is imported silver of fineness 925, assayed in London in 1913 (although this was based on viewing with the naked eye). There's also a serial number, 2891163, but I can't find any sign of a maker's mark. The movement is marked as Swiss-made, 15 jewels. What's nice is that although it is clearly in need of some restoration work it is running, as the seller had it wound up for display.

I'm not very familiar with watches of this age so if anyone who is has any observations I'd be interested to hear them.


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## stefano34 (Sep 27, 2009)

Nice find, generically they are known as 'trench' watches as they were of a type that became popular with soldiers in the Great War (WW1)as they were more convenient than fiddleing around getting a pocket watch out during combat etc.

Many of these watches never saw combat let alone a trench, there are also several myths surrounding the red 12 one being it is easier to pick out in low light or at a quick glance when people then were used to seeing the winder at 12 instead of the now 3 'o' clock position.

These watches are also often small around 30mm being frequently converted from fob watches, they look best worn on a 'bund' type strap and there are several suppliers of these one being RLT.

Type in trench watch and you'll find out loads more about them.

Possibly my favourite watch is a trench watch a c1915 Langendorf (Lanco)I aquired earlier this year, it keeps time to within 30 seconds a day which ain't bad for a 95 year old watch!It also attracts plenty of comments and these are getting popular even Fossil do a homage complete with shrapnel guard!


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## knirirr (May 5, 2008)

Thanks for the reply - you have a very nice looking watch there.

Just out of interest I compared the serial number of this watch to the Longines numbers in the dating thread, and if this watch did happen to be made by Longines then it would have been late in 1912, which would fit with the London 1913 assay and import marks. Hopefully it will be possible to replace the crystal (there are a couple of large cracks across it) and find a nice leather strap that suits, perhaps one of the sort you mention.


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## stevieb (Feb 12, 2010)

You may find an additional mark under the balance.

steve


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## Lkenny (Sep 28, 2009)

nice find


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## knirirr (May 5, 2008)

It seems that there was only a serial number on the movement. But, now the watch has been cleaned up (during a service by silver_hawk) another mark has become visible on one of the lugs:










I haven't got a clue what this might be - perhaps it is the Swiss case maker's mark, but if so it's not a mark that's identifiable from any keys I've found on line. So, any suggestions as to what it might be would be welcome.


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## stevieb (Feb 12, 2010)

It looks like the import mark for the London assay office.

regards steve


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## knirirr (May 5, 2008)

stevieb said:


> It looks like the import mark for the London assay office.


Thanks. There's one of those elsewhere on the case and I didn't think that they looked the same. But, they are roughly similar, so I suppose that this one may differ due to the difficulty of making such a small stamp on a thin lug.


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## knirirr (May 5, 2008)

Since that first picture was taken I've sourced a new strap and had the watch serviced by silver_hawk. The result is this:


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## Morris Minor (Oct 4, 2010)

That looks very good, especially for its age - this is one watch that is well suited to the bund style strap.

Stephen


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## mel (Dec 6, 2006)

Google on "vintage watch straps" and take the leading entry - this is one watch that should be on one of this guy's straps IMO (which is *NEVER* humble) :yes:

The cut-out on his Bund style watch is perfect for this style, although not so cheap, but would set this piece off perfectly I would say! :notworthy:


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## knirirr (May 5, 2008)

mel said:


> Google on "vintage watch straps" and take the leading entry - this is one watch that should be on one of this guy's straps IMO (which is *NEVER* humble) :yes:
> 
> The cut-out on his Bund style watch is perfect for this style, although not so cheap, but would set this piece off perfectly I would say! :notworthy:


That is indeed the gentleman who supplied this particular strap; I preferred the one without the cutout, though.


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## stevieb (Feb 12, 2010)

Knirirr,

Having looked at it again the mark is definitely the London import mark.

Its nice to know the case was supplied with wire lugs as a wristwatch.

Well done, you shoud be pleased with yourself the end result is excellent.

The bund finishes it off, superb









steve


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