Bidding in online auctions is not something I regularly participate in, but after reading the auction catalogue, I believed I had uncovered the holy grail!
The Auction House described the item as follows...
#16858
"A Victorian silver key wind open face pocket watch signed William Bent, the white dial with hourly applied Roman numerals, bordered by a minute track, subsidiary seconds dial to six o`clock, round case with milled band, engine turned decoration and vacant cartouche to the rear, hallmarked Birmingham 1897, fitted with a full plate fusee and chain movement with ratchet tooth lever escapement. Case diameter 51mm."
It was the 'Birmingham' that caught my attention and certainly struck me as a little odd! William Bent lived and worked his whole life in London; all his watches I have ever seen were hallmarked in London. It started me thinking that maybe this might be the only one of his watches that had in fact been assayed in Birmingham? Could this watch be that rarest of the rare?
The photographs provided by the auction house unfortunately didn't show all the detail; the auction was to go live, online within hours; it was impossible to physically inspect the item, so a decision had to be made. Was I to pass up an opportunity to obtain perhaps the rarest William Bent watch of all time? No! I had to have it; I had confidence in what is a reputable auction house and ultimately, my curiosity made the decision for me.
Online auctions are a very cold affair really, the auctioneer stirs up the bidders in his practised monotone and bids are shown on your screen. Green if you are winning; red if you have been outbid. Clicking the "Bid Now" button as quickly as is possible is required to stay in front and keep the bid green.
Eventually, the hammer fell on my final bid and I had won this rare item. However, having won the watch was only the beginning, money would have to be transferred and then it would take weeks before the item found its way across the world to my hands. It was during this time my curiosity and doubts continued to grow!
When the watch finally arrived, I was very keen to get to the bottom of this anomaly.
On initial inspection...
Yes, the solid silver case revealed the anchor hallmark depicting Birmingham, but that's where the authenticity ended!
The serial numbers of the case and the movement did not match and the dial size was not correct for this case.
On opening the bezel, the sad truth was revealed. It became clearly obvious that the genuine William Bent movement herein had suffered irreparable damage having been ripped from its original case in a most undignified manner. The hinge of the movement and the white enamel dial had both been unnecessarily damaged beyond repair.
Unfortunately, so many William Bent solid gold and solid silver cases have been stripped for scrap, leaving the movements sadly damaged, left naked without their cases.
In defence of the Birmingham case, I guess it could be argued that someone was trying to protect this genuine William Bent movement by finding a suitable silver case in which to preserve it.
This begs the question, what options exist to preserve a William Bent movement we may have purchased that has been separated from its original case?
I took the very first William Bent movement I ever bought to an old watchmaker and he suggested we find a nice silver case for it. He couldn't find one, and to this day I have never found a suitable one of that particular size.
We must be aware that because these watches were made before mass production, standard sizes are rare and interchangeable parts are almost non existent. Besides, the original case would have been stamped with the same serial number as the movement, making it an impossible task to find a duplicate.
I have recorded the dial sizes of all the William Bent watches we have discovered so far in the Catalogue and you will note the extensive range of measurements that exist.
I know this story is not an isolated case and perhaps examples of alternative housings could be the subject of a future posting?
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