Goliath!

Measuring in at a massive 51.6 mm, this giant represents the largest William Bent watch ever made.



In its day, housed in a gold or solid silver case, this would have been a hefty item to carry around.



Large pocket watches were a sign of status, wealth and power. Often referred to as a Goliath.



Can anyone explain the numbers 24 x 4? Maybe the size, but what units?

Progress

As 2014 draws to a close, I am pleased to report that 53 William Bent watches have now been located throughout the world.

Of the 53 now identified...

• the majority, are key wind and set fusee English lever movements.
• most are movement only; original gold or silver cases have too often been sold for scrap.
• some movements have been broken out of the case, causing damage to the enamel dial.
• those still housed in original cases are mainly key wind open face.
• only a few are housed in hunter cases.
• only 8 are keyless with crown wind and pin set
• a few rarities represent the age of development, rear keys, chronograph and going barrel.
• all carry the endorsement "Chronometer MAKER to the ADMIRALTY"
• one has a champleve dial.

Much of this information has been collected by watching sales across the internet.

Some details of each watch so far discovered, are now displayed in the catalogue.

Many thanks to all who have contacted me and agreed to share knowledge of this man and his work on these pages.

Much is still to be learned; if you can assist by providing any of the missing details, or if you have a watch that is not yet included, please contact me by email. I will be more than pleased to hear from you. Alternatively, you may wish to ask me a question; I am happy to attempt to provide you with an answer.

A reminder: If you would like to be notified by email when a new post is published on this site, please enter your email address under "Follow by Email" and then Submit.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year 2015.
Philip

Oldest William Bent Watch

Another very exciting discovery this month...
Thanks to John in the UK for permission to share some of his pictures here.

This is the oldest William Bent watch discovered so far.
Serial number 8627 is now the earliest recorded number. The details of this watch have been added to the Catalogue as well as the History section of this blog.
The rear case cover, opens when the button on the pendant is pressed. This reveals the winding square on which the key would be placed to wind up the watch (in an anti-clockwise direction). All pocket watches are designed for the cover to spring open to a maximum 90 degrees. Because silver (and gold) are soft metals the hinge is often deformed by being forced with undue pressure beyond the 90 degrees.
The inside of the rear cover is hallmarked...

This Sterling silver case is hallmarked with the leopard's head for London and a lower case "d" (Old English font) for 1859. The maker's mark "J.H" is for Joseph Hirst who made the Silver case for this watch.

Pristine Timepiece

Another contact made this week! I am grateful to Phil from GoldSovereignExpert.com for sending and allowing me to publish these photos of his beautiful William Bent pocket watch, Serial number 16581.

Wow! What a Beauty!

Full Hunter, 18ct gold, keyless William Bent watch, hallmarked for 1879 in pristine condition. The dial, the movement and the case all display the serial number 16581. The winding crown is positioned at 3 o'clock.
The small button located to the right of the pendant, is depressed when setting the hands with the crown.



The Three-quarter plate movement is revealed after opening the rear case cover and then the cuvette. (two 18ct gold covers seal and protect the movement).

It is indeed a privilege to include this very fine William Bent pocket watch within these pages and I thank Phil from GoldSovereighExpert.com for sharing these pictures with us. This watch is in such amazing condition for over 135 years old, I have never seen anything of this standard before.

The Hallmarks for Gold:

At the Top - The crown for British standard before 1975.
On the Left - Date Letter "D" for 1879.
On the Right - The leopard's head for assayed in London.
At the Bottom - The purity mark for 18 carat gold.
(Source: www.gold-traders.co.uk)

Sold on the Internet

A keyless, three-quarter plate, non fusee movement #17465 sold on the Internet this week.
The sale occurred on 4 Aug 2014 and the details have been added to the Catalogue.
By recording the details of these sales we can discover how many William Bent pieces are out there.


These pictures are of a similar movement #17481...
This three-quarter plate design was a later improvement in the evolution of the pocket watch as the key wind and set fusee pattern was gradually replaced by the crown and stem.

Although the majority of William Bent watches are key wind fusee full plate lever, here is an unusual hybrid #13385 incorporating a key wind fusee three-quarter plate encased in a unique hinged rim dust cover. Is this the missing link between key wind and crown wind?

Tiny Treasure

The smallest William Bent pocket watch known to exist...

New Discoveries

New Discoveries

Many thanks to my third cousin Frank, who made contact recently.
We both share William Bent as our 2x Great Grandfather.
Frank has supplied some great pictures of William Bent movements I didn't know existed.
Their details have now been added and the "Catalogue" continues to grow.
Thank you Frank for your permission to include the following pics.
Who knows how many more are out there, still to be discovered?





11313 - External Regulator Arm
Usually located internally, the regulator arm is used to adjust the Balance Spring to make the watch run slightly faster or slightly slower. Having the Regulator Arm in this external position would have encouraged imprudent fiddling with the adjustment, an action best left to a professional.





16701 - Note the "m" in the loop of "Bent"
Each engraver had their own personal style. Many variations of "William" exist on William Bent watches. This one is distinctive with the accommodation of the "m" within the loop of the B for Bent.





17061 - Gold hands - once housed in a gold case?
This picture clearly illustrates the correct length and style of 19th century Pocket Watch hands.
The hour hand, all but reaches the Roman numerals, while the minute hand extends to the furthest markings on the dial. The subsidiary seconds hand all but touching the seconds increments.
Replacement hands on pocket watches are often incorrect length or inappropriate style.
Original hands were either blued steel or gold. Blued steel hands make it easy to read the time and were popular in both Silver and Gold cases. Gold hands were predominantly used in gold cases.
Modern reproduced hands are often neither blued steel or gold.

Silver Hallmarks

Silver Case Hallmarks

The hallmarks found on William Bent watch cases are the most reliable means to determine the age of the timepiece.

www.925-1000.com/british_marks.html is a great reference site for deciphering English Silver symbols, date letter codes and maker’s marks.
Here we examine the silver hallmarks on two watches.

William Bent Serial # 13285

William Bent Serial # 12635
The hallmarks photographed here read as follows:

The Silver Standard Mark – the lion passant (walking lion) indicates that the solid silver case has been tested and is at least 92.5% pure silver. This is the purity mark for British Sterling Silver.

The City Mark – the leopard’s head indicates the case was tested at the London Assay Office.

(The majority of leopard’s head marks are so worn they look to me like a skull and crossbones – however 

the second watch displayed here shows an almost mint mark on watch #12635)

The Date Letter – lower case “r” for 1872 on watch #13285 and lower case “q” for 1871 on #12635.

The date letters can be read from the chart:

www.925-1000.com/dlc_london.html

The Maker’s Mark – “R.O” (not “B.O”) is for Richard Oliver, silver watch case maker, Galway Street, operating in St Luke’s, London 1864-1873 (registered 1859) www.silvermakersmarks.co.uk

The Serial Number – William Bent watches so far discovered have serial numbers ranging from 8631 to 18410 (View them in the Catalogue). Numbers are sequential, but I don't think they started at #1.
Matching serial numbers appear in five places on a William Bent watch: twice on the case; on the dial; on the movement and on the dust cover.

Rare Find

Rare William Bent Champlevé sold at Woolley & Wallis auction on 30 Oct 2013.

Serial # 13506 - 18ct gold Hallmarked for 1874.

In the History section you will see William Bent was 51 in 1874.

This beauty is a keywind & set pocket watch housed in an 18ct gold case and is unique as it is the only William Bent I have seen with a gold champlevé dial instead of the traditional white enamel.

I would love to know more about this watch and perhaps even receive some pics via email to grace these pages. (I hope the proud new owner will read this and leave a comment)

The Catalogue

Now you can date your William Bent pocket watch movement.

The catalogue which appears in the tab above is not an official list compiled by William Bent, (how I wish such a list could be found). Instead, it is a list compiled (from my research) primarily as a record of all known William Bent pocket watches and movements sold across the world.

Feel free to use the catalogue as a means of approximating the date of any William Bent movement.

Also please help to maintain the catalogue by informing me of any omissions or errors. It is by no means complete and could be more useful to everyone if we pool our information.

The dates which appear in the catalogue have been taken from hallmarks on the watch cases, but only those whose serial numbers match the movement they contain.

Unfortunately, many gold and silver cases have been sold for scrap (the prices of gold and silver being so high) leaving the watch movements orphaned and often suffering damage in the process.

Some movements have been found married up with a suitably sized case, but the serial numbers do not match. The dates from these cases have not been included in this catalogue.

Why are some serial numbers in the catalogue accompanied with an asterisk?

The majority of William Bent pocket watch movements are of the English Fusee Full-plate Lever design (like the one that is illustrated here). I have included an asterisk (*) in the catalogue to indicate those that vary from this design. These variations will be dealt with in a separate post.

This beautiful example 13392 is typical of the keywind, keyset, fusee full-plate lever design favoured by William Bent. By using the catalogue as a guide, it dates to about 1873.
These images appeared briefly on ebay in 2012.

Welcome

I am creating this blog to share all I have researched on William Bent in the hope of learning more!
I'm new to this blogging business, so it may take a little while. Please be patient and check regularly.
If you have an interest in William Bent or his pocket watches, I will be pleased to receive comments from you.
Future pages include...
Catalogue - listing of known William Bent pocket watches and movements.
History - The Life of William Bent, Watchmaker.
Examination of rarities and oddities.
Photos from around the world.
And more...