Deck watch no. 9612 by Vacheron & Constantin

Catalogue description — Royal Museums Greenwich

A deck watch numbered 9612, by Vacheron & Constantin. It has a well-finished jewelled movement with the regulator scale marked ‘AVANCE’ and other inscriptions ‘VACHERON & CONSTANTIN’, ‘GENÈVE’ and ‘439612’. There is a club-tooth lever escapement and two-arm compensation balance. The movement is housed in an open-face silver case with snap-on bezel and glass and snap-fit jointed back. This is inscribed on the outside ‘H.S.2 ‘ and the broad arrow. The inside is inscribed, ‘VACHERON & / CONSTANTIN / SWISS’, ‘0,925’, ‘FFBA 1’, the Swiss silver mark of a duck, ‘278437’ and the letter ‘T’. The snap-fit jointed dome is marked on the inside ‘0,925’, ‘FFBA 1’, the silver mark, ‘278437’ and the letter ‘L’. There is a pull-out hand-setting winding crown at the 12 o'clock position. A white enamel dial has Arabic hour numerals, a subsidiary seconds dial in the lower half with Arabic ten-second numerals and straight baton markers at alternate five-second positions. The dial is inscribed ‘VACHERON & CONSTANTIN / GENÈVE / 9612’ and the broad arrow. The watch sits in a circular brass canister punched with ‘433’ on the bottom and the name ‘Dennison / BRITISH MADE’. A brass bezel with bevelled convex glass screws down to secure the watch. The canister is screwed into a wooden deck box with a hinged lid opening 180°. There is a flip-catch to lock the box. The box lid includes a brass label-holder (empty). The underside of the box is covered in green baize. Vacheron & Constantin was a Swiss maker of high-grade commercial lever-escapement pocket watches which were bought by the British Admiralty to meet demand for good quality timekeepers. The watches were additionally housed in wooden deck watch boxes manufactured by the Admiralty chronometer workshops.