{"product_id":"unsigned-swiss-double-sided-full-calendar-moonphase-pocket-watch-r-bonner-thomas-portmadoc-c-1890","title":"Double-Sided Calendar and Moonphase, Portmadoc, c.1890","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eA rare Victorian Swiss lever pocket watch with automatic moonphase and a full triple calendar on the reverse, signed by R. Bonner Thomas, an established watchmaker of Portmadoc, North Wales, with over three decades in the trade.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is a watch that works on two faces and rewards anyone who takes the time to look at both.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe front presents a clean white enamel dial with bold Roman numerals, blued steel hands, a sub-seconds register at six o'clock, and a moonphase aperture occupying the upper half. The gilt moon face rotates automatically on a blue-black sky, tracking the lunar cycle without intervention. It is a striking and immediately legible dial, well proportioned, with the moonphase adding drama without cluttering the time display. The SWISS marking confirms the movement's origin.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTurn the watch over and an entirely separate world opens. A full triple calendar dial fills the reverse, protected behind a hinged bezel with glazed cover. An outer chapter ring displays the days of the week, Sundays picked out in red. Concentric rings carry the date numerals, read by a single blued steel hand. A rectangular aperture at twelve reveals the current month. The date advances automatically every 24 hours; the month requires manual correction at the end of shorter months. This is a full calendar rather than a perpetual one, which is the correct and honest description.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe movement is a Swiss gilt bar lever of approximately 15 jewels with compensation balance and overcoil hairspring: the standard specification of quality Swiss export movements from this era, built to last and regularly found still running well over a century later.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe case is gunmetal with gilt bezels and a gold-tone crown, measuring 53.95mm: substantial and satisfying in the hand, with the weight and presence these double-sided watches carry naturally.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe dial is signed by R. Bonner Thomas, 4 Bank Place, Portmadoc. Thomas was born in Festiniog in 1840 and had operated his Portmadoc shop since approximately 1859, over three decades established in the trade when this watch was retailed. His signature places this watch on a specific street in one of North Wales's principal market towns, distinguishing it from the many unsigned or generically signed examples of the same type.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA proper Victorian complication watch, traceable and honest.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Unsigned (Swiss)","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54269385474387,"sku":"PW-0031","price":685.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1080\/3121\/3907\/files\/CB_03556-front_e91a90d1-5133-4bf9-b3c1-c6718e895f1a.jpg?v=1783717419","url":"https:\/\/estatecollection.nl\/products\/unsigned-swiss-double-sided-full-calendar-moonphase-pocket-watch-r-bonner-thomas-portmadoc-c-1890","provider":"The Estate Collection","version":"1.0","type":"link"}