Wristwatches · Wristwatch
J.W Benson 9K Gold, WW1 Trench Watch, Breguet Style Dial, circa 1915
- Maker / attribution
- Breguet (maker)
- Date
- c. 1915
- Historical period
- Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
- Country of origin
- France
- Object type
- Wristwatch
- Materials / technique
- gold
- Stock no.
- vws3925
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Vintage Watch Specialist (vws3925)
- Catalogue title (original)
- J.W Benson 9K Gold - WW1 Trench Watch - Breguet Style Dial - c.1915 (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Vintage Watch Specialist (dealer), United Kingdom (stock number vws3925), this is a wristwatch by Breguet, made in France, dated c. 1915. 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: gold. 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
A Stunning 9K Gold JW Benson Trench Watch With a Crisp White Dial, Blued Steel Leaf Hands, and a Period Bund Strap, Exuding Timeless Charm. JW Benson, a prestigious London watchmaker founded in 1847, was renowned for crafting high-quality timepieces for both royalty and the public. Known for their precision and elegant designs, JW Benson supplied watches to Queen Victoria and other notable figures of the era. Their timepieces often feature distinctive English styling combined with Swiss movements, making them highly collectible today and a fine example of traditional British horology. What's on Offer This elegant 9k gold JW Benson trench watch is a fine example of early 20th-century horology, likely worn by an officer during the Great War era. Its crisp white enamel dial features classic Breguet-style Arabic numerals, a detailed minute track, and a recessed sub-seconds dial at 6 o'clock, offering both clarity and charm and this dial looks to be in fantastic condition. The ornate blued steel leaf hands add sophistication. Protected beneath a robust Plexiglas crystal, the dial sits within a beautifully polished 9k yellow gold Dennison case, paired with a rugged brown leather bund strap for period authenticity. Housing a 15-jewel manual movement, this JW Benson watch is a wonderful blend of functional military design and understated luxury, making it highly collectible for enthusiasts of early wristwatches together with those interested in military items with historical significance.
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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