Bond St. Movement in a Dennison Moon Gold-Filled Case, c.1910
This is a classic Anglo-American pocket watch: an American movement in an English case, the pairing that dominated the British market either side of 1900. The movement is by the American Waltham Watch Company of Waltham, Massachusetts, the firm that pioneered mass production of accurate, interchangeable-part watches. It carries Waltham's "Bond St." signature, one of the grades made specifically for sale in Britain, and is a seven-jewel stem-wind, stem-set calibre with gilt plates. Serial number 17772778 dates manufacture to around 1910.
The case is the work of the Dennison Watch Case Company of Birmingham, founded by Aaron Lufkin Dennison, who settled in England to supply cases for imported American movements. It is a full hunter in Dennison's "Moon" grade: two plates of 10ct gold over a composition core, guaranteed to wear twenty years, stamped accordingly inside the caseback. The white enamel dial is signed "Waltham U.S.A." with Roman numerals, a subsidiary seconds dial at six and blued spade hands.
One detail collectors will note: the movement sits in the hunter case as a "sidewinder," with the crown at twelve and the seconds at six. It winds smoothly and runs well. The hand-setting mechanism does not currently engage properly, so setting the time is difficult; it would benefit from a service. The enamel dial has a hairline crack from the twelve toward the centre and light surface freckling. The gold-filled case shows honest brassing on the high points from a century of pocket wear.
