J.W.Benson
The Company S.S & J.W. Benson was founded by Samuel Suckley Benson and James William Benson in 1847 by purchasing the premises, and possibly the business interests, of established companies in London at Cornhill and Ludgate Hill, from which they sometimes claimed a date of foundation of 1749. The partnership dissolved in 1855 and James William continued in business under the name ‘J.W. Benson’. After his death in 1878, the Company continued under the leadership of his sons James, Alfred and Arthur.
Throughout its history, J. W. Benson Ltd was official watchmaker to the Admiralty & the War Department and also held a number of royal warrants, being watchmakers to Queen Victoria, the Prince of Wales, the Tsar of Russia, Abu Bakar of Johor and several other royal families.
Description
Here we have a wonderful original J.W.Benson gentleman’s automatic dress watch from 1965 with an outstanding previously restored silver-white dial. This is a classic and an excellent example of some of the outstanding work J.W.Benson created.
The Dial
The beautifully clean and well balanced silver-white dial carries gilt 1 – 12 standard Arabic numerals with matching gilt ‘dauphine’ hands. Each of these features complement the 9ct yellow gold case perfectly.
The dial is simply signed ‘J.W.Benson London’ at the top of the dial below ’12’ along with ‘Automatic’ at the bottom of the dial above 6 and ‘Swiss Made’ either side of 6.
This dial has been previously restored to a very high standard yet remains in outstanding condition.
The Movement
The high grade Cal.2451, 25 Jewel automatic movement fitted to this watch was one of J.W.Bensons most successful movements. As can be seen in the images, the movement is in sparkling condition following a fresh service.
This movement is very highly regarded for its accuracy and reliability, making this watch perfectly suited for everyday use as well as evening wear. The movement is in tip-top condition having been overhauled and serviced by our vintage specialist watchmaker which means it has been completely disassembled to all its component parts, carefully inspected under high magnification and replacement where necessary with only genuine parts before careful reassembly and adjustment and calibration. The watch winds, sets and runs perfectly accurately and reliably within +8 seconds per day, averaged over 5 positions which is excellent for any watch of this age and has been confirmed on our electronic watch timegrapher. The movement also has an excellent 47-hour power reserve when fully wound. We are therefore more than confident in offering 12 months’ warranty with this watch movement*.
The movement is correctly signed ‘J.W.Benson London’, ‘Swiss Made’ and ‘25 Jewels’ along with the calibre number 2451.
*Please note – our 12 months’ warranty is only applicable if the list price is paid.
The Case
The totally original, 9ct yellow gold case measures 34mm in diameter, excluding the correct unsigned crown. The case is of a heavy three-piece design with a screw-down case-back and is solid, elegant and of obvious very high quality.
This watch case has been carefully inspected for fatigue marks and there are none. It is very rigid and the case-back is a nice tight fit. Importantly, it is of full thickness and has never been inscribed.
The case was made for J.W.Benson by Dennison in the UK who made watch cases for many of the top Swiss watch manufacturers at this time. Dennison and Sons in Birmingham and Shackman and Sons in London, both produced top quality cases for almost all of the watch brands you see on this website. The interior of the case-back is correctly signed ‘J.W.Benson LTD’, ‘Made in England’ and ‘A.L.D’ with the model number 12892 and case serial number 440707, it is also marked with the correct Birmingham 9ct hallmarks which dates this watch correclty to 1965.
As ever, our standard advice applies: Vintage watches should be kept clean and dry at all times.
The Strap and Buckle
The watch is fitted with a high quality brown buffalo calf strap with a plain gold-plated buckle. We feel this matches the case nicely and lifts the watch. However, if a different colour or style of strap is preferred, please let us know and we will do our best to oblige free of charge. We carry Tan, Conker, Dark Brown and Black in stock and in plain padded leather, or crocodile skin or lizard skin. For a wider selection, please take a look at the wonderful choice of straps offered by our suppliers, Watch Obsession.
Box and Papers
This watch comes complete with the original sales receipt which is dated 1967, however the hallmarks in the case back date this watch to 1965.
Detailed particulars will be included with our purchase receipt for your interest and security. A separate insurance valuation for the replacement value of this watch will also be provided at the time of sale along with our unique ‘Lifetime Authenticity Guarantee’ which states: “If this watch proves to be anything less than 100% genuine, authentic and original, a full refund will be given at any time”.
This watch comes complete with the original J.W.Benson presentation box as shown.
Payment and Delivery
If you would like to pay by bank transfer, we will be pleased to assist you with this. Similarly, if you wish to pay by International SWIFT or Bank Wire Transfer we will provide you with our BIC / Swift number and our IBAN number.
Please check the import duties and any taxes your government may apply, these are different for each country and, unfortunately, out of our control.
We understand there may be some ‘loopholes’ that may help you avoid these charges; however, attempting to use these could impact our ongoing ability to serve our growing international customer base.
For those who happen to visit London on occasion, we are, of course, more than happy to store your watch until we can meet you in our offices in Kensington, London, and hand your watch directly to you there.
As with all our watches, this watch will be sold under our 14 days no-quibble sale or return policy.
In Conclusion
A wonderful example of a fascinating timepiece which will undoubtedly make an excellent financial investment, as well as be something wonderful to wear, treasure and enjoy! It could make a practical watch for regular or occasional use, as you wish and if it continues to be well cared for and regularly serviced, it will provide dependable service for many decades to come.
This watch carries a great deal more style, individuality and panache than a new watch and to buy the same quality today would be difficult, at 4 or 5 times the price.
A word on our prices – We always try our hardest to acquire the very highest quality watches we can find, before restoring them to the highest possible standards. We then offer these at the fairest prices we can, taking into account our pre and post-sales care and service. This approach means we will never be the cheapest, but nor will we be the most expensive. Indeed there are some well-known stores in West London which are highly successful charging between two to three times the price you see here. We, therefore, consider our prices to be fair, given the quality of watches we have to offer.
Please note, we also welcome part exchanges. If you have a watch or a small collection for sale, please contact us as we will be happy to discuss this.
We will also be happy to Service your watch, Repair your watch or Restore your watch, all at ‘sensible’ prices. Please see here.
If you have any questions please call us on 020 7727 7095 or if calling from overseas on +44 207 727 7095.
Please take a look at our other fine vintage gold watches.
Thank you.
Andrew M via feefo 
3rd December 2024 
JLC1891 
