J.W.Benson Cushion Model.245 9ct 1944

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 dress watch from 1944 with an outstanding original, unrestored and untouched porcelain dial. This is a classic and an excellent example of some of the outstanding work J.W.Benson created. Today, given the popularity among ladies to wear gent’s watches, this could equally be considered a suitable watch for a lady.

The Dial

The beautifully clean and well balanced white porcelain dial carries bold honey coloured 1 – 12 standard Arabic numerals with matching honey coloured ‘Index’ hands. These wonderful aspects are completed by the outer minute railtrack and subsidiary seconds dial at 6. Each of these features complement the 9ct yellow gold case perfectly. As can be seen in the images, there is a slight flaw in the dial. However, this is not unusual for an unrestored and untouched watch dial of this age.

The dial is simply signed ‘J.W.Benson London’ at the top of the dial below ’12’ with ‘Swiss Made’ at the bottom.

This dial is original and unrestored and has been left untouched by our restoration team due to its superb condition. Usually, we restore the dials of the watches we sell, however we decided in this case to leave it alone, due to its unusually good condition and to retain its originality and charm for those who prefer this. It also helps to contrast with almost all of the other watch dials you see on our website, which have been restored. The hands, likewise, have also been left in their original untouched condition.

Please note, studio lights, professional-grade digital cameras, and macro lenses can be very unkind to an unrestored vintage watch dial. Also the dial here measures less than 1.25 inches across, so the image you’re seeing may be between 5 – 25 times larger than the watch itself. Therefore please keep in mind you are seeing many tiny flaws which cannot be seen, or will be very hard to see with the naked eye, even under close examination. Suffice to say, on the wrist, in natural light, this dial looks much better and carries a great deal more charm than the photographs portray.

The Movement

The high grade Cal.052K, 15 Jewel hand-wound movement fitted to this watch was one of J.W.Bensons most successful movements, remaining in production for over 20 years.

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 +10 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 36-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 ‘15 Jewels’.

*Please note – our 12 months’ warranty is only applicable if the list price is paid.

The Case

The totally original, 9ct yellow gold ‘cushion’ case measures 29mm in diameter, excluding the correct unsigned crown. This may seem like quite a small watch, but in fact, when measured across the diagonal, including the wonderful lugs, it measures a large 36mm. The case is of a heavy two-piece design with a press-fit 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 ‘Dennison’, ‘Made in England’ and ‘A.L.D’ with the model number 245 and the case reference no. 12100, it is also marked with the correct 9ct hallmarks and case serial number 10545.

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 new, high quality brown alligator 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

Although there are no original papers with this watch, the reference numbers, markings, signatures and hallmarks are all correct, dating this watch to 1944.

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”.

The high quality hardwood presentation box shown in the photographs is included.

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.