1916 WW1/Trench Watch. Rare English Sterling Silver Dennison Hermetic Case

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  What an incredible offering. How about an English Waltham Trench Watch from the famous Dennison watch case manufacturing company.
  
  
  How about a little history lesson on British hallmarks, these hallmarks can reveal a lot about a watch
  This particular case style is highly coveted. Why you ask? The heavier weighted case is a prize all by itself. The feature of having the case bezel and case back thread on to the case, this creates and better case design to keep the dust a d some perspiration out of the watch
  
  
  Let’s review the Hallmarks
  
  
  Lion: That is British Stamp for Sterling Silver 925 (92.5% pure silver, 7.5% copper)
  
  
  Anchor: The assay office of Birmingham England
  
  
  Upper Case “S” Year of 1917
  
  
  The dial is stunning, it is a classic military shadow box with safe luminous material applied. The dial is porcelain which was common back the turn of last century.
  
  
  History about Trench Watches
  
  
  What is a “Trench Watch” ?
  
  
  They were created using 3/0 and 0 size pocket watch movements and installing into watch cases that were meant to worn on the wrist. The watch movement companies would send their movements to independent jewelers, who in turn would select the cases (as described below) to house the movement.
  
  So the ordering process might go like this. A customer walks into a jeweler, with the help of the jeweler, the customer selects a 15 jeweled movement, then they go on to the case selection. The jeweler may recommend a higher end case manufactures like Depollier, and then it is the style of case as many manufactures had several different styles. Once a complete selection was made, the jeweler put it together and delivered the watch. That is how many Trench Watches (wrist watches) were born in the early 1900's.
  
  
  The movements often came from women pocket watches because the wristwatch as we know was just being discovered. It is not uncommon to see various movements used in different cases, with various years. Remember the wristwatch was just being developed.
  
  
  They often have some of the following characteristics:
  
  
  Fixed or Wire Lug: No traditional spring bar attachment as found in today’s watches.
  
  
  Case Material: Solid Gold / Sterling Silver (925) / Silverode or Gold Filled were used. (This case lid snaps snug on the case. This is important to note as many cases were badly damaged by their owners over the past 100 years. This watch case has been taken care of throughout its 100 years, it is in remarkable shape)
  
  
  *For more practical purposes, a special alloy was developed which went by several different names, such as, "Silveroid, Silverore, Silverode or Silverine. "Silveroid" appears to have become the standard name for this metal that consisted of 45% nickel, 54% copper and 1% manganese. This metal was fairly hard wearing and could withstand the rigors of everyday use, for instance on the Railroads.
  
  
  Case Manufactures: There were many case manufacturers that made cases for Trench Watches. Some of the more well know were: Dennison (English Manufacturer) Illinois (not affiliated with the Illinois Watch Company) J Depollier and Sons, Wadsworth, Fahys, Philadelphia, Fortune and many more
  
  
  WW1 was 1914 to 1918, that is the time frame of many Trench Watches.
  
  
  One of my favorite trench watch cases from WWI were made by J. Depollier & Son and the English case maker Dennision.. These cases had high quality manufacturing details that made them some of the best of their day Dennison cases were available in Nickel, Sterling Silver, 14k Solid Gold, 18k Solid Gold.
  
  
  This movement was made in 1916. The ALD case company was consider on of the best watch case manufactures in the watch world. This case is no exception.
  
  
  This is the rare highly sought after case. The “Hermetic” design was more expensive to manufacturer; it did a better job of keeping the elements out of the watch. This case is much heavier in sterling silver than many cases from the same time period. This was a more expensive design feature than many cases of that era.
  
  
  The solid sterling silver case is an oversized Trench Watch case relative to many others. It measures as follows:
  
  
  35.5MM wide, without the crown, 41MM with the beautiful brass colored pumpkin crown
  
  
  The watch band is a brand new brown Leather 12MM opened ended band with a stainless steel tang buckle.
  
  
  The grade 115 has recently been cleaned and overhauled. It keeps time beautifully,
  
  
  American Waltham Watch Co.
  
  
  Grade: No. 161
  
  
  Manufacturer: Waltham
  
  
  Manufacturer Location: Waltham, Massachusetts
  
  
  Movement Serial Number: 20637762
  
  
  Grade: No. 161
  
  
  Model: 1900
  
  
  Estimated Production Year: 1916
  
  
  Run Quantity: 4,000
  
  
  Total Production: 25,000
  
  
  Size: 0s
  
  
  Jewels: 7 Jewel
  
  
  Movement Configuration: Hunting
  
  
  Movement Finish: Nickel
  
  
  Movement Setting: Pendant
  
  
  Plate: 3/4 Plate
  
  
  Hairspring: Breguet
  
  
  Adjusted: No
  
  This watch originated from the UK, that is where I acquired it. I like to offer some unusual timepieces and think this one qualifies. This about his for a moment.
  
  
  This is an American Watch company who partnered with the ALD (Dennsion) watch case company to supply watch cases for their movements in the UK. ALD already had a great reputation for high quality, now they were partnering with Waltham to bring England an alternative their watches. It was marriage between Dennsion and Waltham that lasted for many years
  
  
  Please use the pictures as part of the description, ask as many questions as you would like. I am happy to send more pictures of add clarity that you made need
  
  As you can tell from some of my reviews, I am invested in my customers; you are much more than a transaction. Please keep in mind that I put every watch through a 48 hour mild stress test before I ship, that way I know 100% that it is operational. In rare cases that a complication occurs, I will keep you informed.
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