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Silver Cased Trench Watch - Sterile Dial - Blued Steel Hands - WW1 ***SOLD***

£0.00GBP
vws0620

***SOLD*** WE ARE SORRY BUT THIS WATCH IS NOW SOLD!

IF HOWEVER, YOU ARE LOOKING TO BUY OR SELL SOMETHING SIMILAR THEN PLEASE EMAIL sales@vintagewatchspecialist.com or WhatsApp/Call +44 7831 454658.

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An Elegant Silver ' Dimier Brothers & Co - DBS' Cased Trench Watch - Sterile Dial - Blued Steel Hands - Wire Lugs

The Trench watch (wristlet) was a type of watch that came into use by the military during World War I, as pocket watches were not practical in combat. It was a transitional design between pocket watches and wristwatches, incorporating features of both. 

The very first watch that somebody adapted to wear on a wrist is unknown. The first series of purpose-made men’s wristwatches were produced by Girard-Perregaux in 1880 for the German Navy. During World War I numerous companies, including Omega, Longines, and others produced wristwatches for the military. These watches were of a virtually identical style with an enamel dial, wide white numerals, and a luminescent radium hour hand. Often they did not bear the name of the manufacturer, though the movement, originally designed in the 1890s for ladies pendant watches, was marked "Swiss".

From pocket watches those trench watches inherited hinged front and back covers. The lugs for a strap looked like a thick wire attachment to the classical round shape of pocket watches rather than an integrated part of the body of the later and more modern wristwatches. The name "wristlet" was used until the early 1930s and was eventually replaced by the modern name "wristwatch".

 

What’s On Offer 

This is an attractive WW1 period, trench watch with a white enamel dial, which surprisingly has no hairline cracks, crisp Roman numerals with the 12 o'clock marked in blue, and a seconds subdial. The elegant blued steel pointed lollipop hands oversized onion crown combined with the fairly substantial dial diameter really give this watch contemporary proportions despite its obvious vintage. This watch could be styled with various straps to offer different looks, a real unique piece that is sure to be a talking point. The watch is in very good condition given its age and has a rather elegant aesthetic. Although the watch is in working order and keeps time, we have not tested or serviced it so would recommend a service will be required, and we are selling the watch "as is".

The case is marked internally, DBs and this is the registered sponsor's mark of Dimier Brothers & Co., a large company importing Swiss watches into Britain in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and also exporting to Switzerland leather straps made in England for wristwatches. Dimier Brothers & Co. had offices in London and, under the name Dimier Fréres & Co., in la Chaux-de-Fonds. They had no manufacturing capability, they were purely an import/export company. 

Additional information

Made from

Case: Silver

Dial: White 

Crystal: Plexi

Bracelet: Leather

Technical specifications

Winding: Manual

Movement Type: Mechanical

Caliber: Unknown

Jewels: 15j

Waterproof: n/a

Power reserve: unknown

Purchase details

Condition: Good

Model Reference Number: Trench Watch

Date of issue: WW1

Guarantee: Sold as seen

Dimensions

Width: 34mm

Lug width: 18mm

Lug height: (lug to lug) 41mm

Wrist size:  Adjustable