About this lot

Description

the cream coloured dial, 20mm diameter, with blue Arabic numerals, gold coloured scrollwork hands and gold coloured dot minute track, the crown wind mechanical movement with onion shaped winder and hand setting button at 1 o'clock, the case, 30mm diameter, with engraved bezel, verso engraved with foliate designs and featuring a two stems of roses each with a bloom around a central vacant escutcheon shaped cartouche, stamped inside '14K' and numbered 125821, the base metal cuvette similarly numbered, pendant bow removed and with later added fixed lugs to a brown leather strap with pin buckle, gross weight 23.1g

Footnote: Until the beginning of the 20th century, watches were generally worn by gentlemen suspended from chains, with the watch housed in the waistcoat or breast pocket - hence the name 'pocket watch' - and watches for ladies were either attached to clothing with a brooch fitting, or suspended from a chain around the neck. However, during the first Word War there was a need by soldiers to be able to see the time quickly and easily without having to rummage in a pocket, not least because they may well have their hands full, and pocket watches began to be worn strapped to the wrist with leather. Later, pocket watches had the pendant bow removed and lugs attached to the side and were fitted with a traditional watch strap, and the 'trench watch' was born. It soon became fashionable to wear the watch on the wrist, so at this time many pocket watches were converted in this way. It was not until later that the dial configuration was changed so that '12' and '6' were positioned at 90 degrees to the wrist as they are today. This was not only because fixing lugs where the winding crown and case hinge were located would be difficult, but also so that the crown rested comfortably on the wrist when worn. The dials were not repositioned as that was 'a watchmaker's job', whereas soldering lugs to the case side was reasonably easy to do 'at home'. In this example, the '12' and '6' are still parallel to the wrist and the pendant bow is missing. It started life as a pocket watch and was subsequently converted to a wristwatch - following the fashion which remains to this day.

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