1946 9ct Gold J.W.Benson Enamel Dial with Box
Ref: 12327

Specification

Points of Mention

This watch is sold as with its original J.W.Benson box but no original paperwork. The watch comes paired on a nice brown leather strap that suits the watch nicely. The watch is from Circa. 1946 and is in worn, vintage condition as you can see from the photos, but overall the watch is in very good condition all considered. The watch comes with our 12-Months NON-Waterproof Warranty.

The Watch

Samuel Suckley Benson and James William Benson founded the company S. S. & J. W. Benson in 1847. They purchased premises in London at Cornhill and Ludgate Hill. The partnership was dissolved on 27 January 1855 and James William continued under the name 'J. W. Benson'. James William Benson died on 7 October 1878, aged 52, and his sons James, Alfred and Arthur took over the running of the business. W. Benson Ltd were official watchmakers to the Admiralty & the War Department and held several Royal Warrants, as watchmakers to Queen Victoria, the Prince of Wales, the Tsar of Russia, and several other Royal families. The company had several premises over the years including Cornhill (1847–64), Ludgate Hill (1854-1937), Old Bond Street (1872-3), and Royal Exchange (1892-1937), their workshop could be found at 4-5 Horseshoe Court (at the rear of their Ludgate Hill premises). In 1892 J. W. Benson became a limited company and moved to a new factory at 38 Belle Sauvage Yard London adapting the latest manufacturing technologies to produce their timepieces on Steam-driven machinery. 

During World War II the factory was bombed, thousands of timepieces were destroyed. From that time forward they no longer manufactured their own in-house watches, but they did remain a retailer. The watches bearing the company name used high-quality Swiss movements supplied by manufacturers such as Vertex (Revue), Universal Genève, Cyma/Tavannes, Longines and  S. Smith & Sons. W. Benson Ltd remained in business until 1973 when the name was sold to the Royal jewellers, Garrards.

Here we have a stunning 1946 9ct Gold J.W.Benson it's 30mm round slim case has tapering lugs. At 38mm lug to lug length, you can be sure of a comfortable fit on your wrist. A fine bezel holds a domed crystal. The white enamel dial has an outer minute track and lumed Arabic numeral indexes marking the hours. Elegant syringe hands have lume infill. At 6 o’clock a sub-seconds register. Text at 12 o’clock is finely applied to the dial. Its classic enamel dial is easy to read. On the reverse, a polished 9ct Gold snap-on case back. Inside a Manually Wound 15 Jewels J.W.Benson. Fitted on a 16mm leather strap.