Wristwatches · Wristwatch
Buren Silver Trench Watch, Swivel Lugs and Shrapnel Guard, circa 1916
- Maker / attribution
- Buren (maker)
- Date
- c. 1916
- Historical period
- Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
- Country of origin
- Unrecorded in source
- Object type
- Wristwatch
- Materials / technique
- silver
- Dimensions
- Case 35 mm
- Stock no.
- vws0262
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Vintage Watch Specialist (vws0262)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Buren Silver Trench Watch - Swivel Lugs and Shrapnel Guard, c.1916 ***SOLD*** (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Vintage Watch Specialist (dealer), United Kingdom (stock number vws0262), this is a wristwatch by Buren, dated c. 1916. The Atlas places it in the Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking period (1900 – 1945) of its Wristwatches collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: silver. Recorded dimensions: Case 35 mm. The record is illustrated with 6 photographs.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
Dealer description — Vintage Watch Specialist
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. Thanks Oversized 35mm solid silver case WW1 officer’s trench watch- rare to see in this condition and case size. Guarded by a solid silver telephone dial guard (would have protected from shrapnel/grenade debris), this will have been one of the earliest (and certainly largest) wristwatches to have seen service. The wire swivel lugs testify to this- they are usually seen on early adaptations of fob watches to turn them into a wearable timepiece. The dial features a ‘red 12’, and is in remarkable condition considering its age and use. There is a small hairline mark across the dial- this is hardly noticeable and purely cosmetic, but does deserve mentioning. The 15 jewel movement is in remarkable working order, and has received a service in July 2014. The case back is hinged, the hands are blue steel ‘leaf’ style, and the dial is enamel; all true to watches of this ilk. Year: C.1916 Box and papers: No Movement type, calibre and jewels: Mechanical, 15 jewels Case: Push-down silver dial Dial: White enamel, red 12 Crystal: Plexiglass Bracelet: Black leather band Width (w/o crown): 35mm Height, lug to lug: 46mm Lug width: 18mm Wrist size:
Historical context
Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
The wristwatch displaces the pocket watch; waterproof cases, self-winding and grand complications.
The wristwatch overtook the pocket watch. Military use in the First World War, aviation, water-resistant cases (1926), automatic winding (1923–31), rectangular Art Deco designs and early chronographs and calendars defined the period.
Read the period in the timelineMore wristwatches from this periodEarlier: Industrial Revolution
Atlas type guide
Military, pilot and travel watches
The wristwatch owes much of its adoption by men to warfare and aviation. Wristlets — small pocket watches soldered with lugs and worn on a strap — were used in colonial campaigns and became standard equipment in the First World War, with protective grilles over the crystal ('shrapnel guards'). Louis Cartier's Santos (1904), designed for the aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont, is often cited as an early purpose-made pilot's watch.
In the Second World War governments specified watches in detail: the German B-Uhr observation watches, the American A-11, and the British 'W.W.W.' (the 'Dirty Dozen' set of 1945). After the war, jet travel brought GMT and world-time watches, which show two or more time zones at once — Louis Cottier's world-time mechanism and the Rolex GMT-Master (1955) are examples.
What to look for
- Military markings on the case back: broad arrow, issue numbers, 'W.W.W.', 'A.T.P.'
- High-legibility black dials with luminous Arabic numerals; oversized crowns for gloved hands.
- 24-hour hands and rotating 24-hour bezels or city rings on GMT/world-time watches.
- Wire lugs on early wristlets converted from pocket watches.
Dating clues
- Wire-lug wristlets: c. 1900–1925.
- Military specifications of the Second World War: 1939–1945.
- GMT and world-time wristwatches: mainly after 1950.
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
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