Pinset Trench Watch with Telephone Dial Shrapnel Guard

Like the watch assembly of the previous post, the strap, guard and watch are a marriage of items acquired separately.

The watch itself is notable on several fronts: (1) it is a pinset; (2) its case is steel; and (3) dial comprises roman numerals including a red XII instead of outlined Arabic numbers configured to received illuminating paint. I will discuss each feature briefly herein. I have no idea as to the date of manufacture of the watch: the pinset mechanism tends to point to an earlier date; whereas, the roman numerals point to either a post or pre-war date since they are not configured to accept lume. In the end dating this watch would be no more than pure speculation.

The strap is likely a bit newer than the watch.  My guess would be that it is closer to a WWII vintage than WWI.  It is made of cotton and is fraying in places.  The self-tightening buckle includes an indication that patent protection has been applied for but because there is no date or patent number, I cannot get a better idea of its age.

The strap has been reinforced on the backside with a strip of leather and the fraying edges have been coated with a flexible adhesive to retard any future unraveling.  Prior to use and reinforcement, I ultrasonically cleaned the strap in water to remove some if not most of 70-80 years of dirt.  The strap is about 12mm wide, and as a general rule such narrow straps can be uncomfortable when tightened around a wrist.  Surprisingly, this strap is quite comfortable perhaps because the soft and forgiving nature of the cotton fabric.  Despite its appearance, the strap's structural integrity is very good with no significant signs of the cotton rotting.

The shrapnel guard is commonly know as a telephone-dial guard.  According Vintagewatchstraps.com this design was registered on 12 December 1914 by Alfred Davison of St. John Street, London. As can be seen in one of the photos, the guard is marked "R^D 644549", which is consistent with similar guards I have seen in photographs.  It appears to be made of stamped nickel plate stock and also appears to be plated on the front side. The "plating" is most likely nickel as well. Alternatively, the guard could have been stamped from polished plate.  Although it looks like chrome, it is most definitely not: the chrome plating process had not yet been developed. 

There are a couple of interesting features of this guard compared to some other telephone-dial guards I have seen. Specifically, the there no cutout for the crown stem, the edges of the guard are more table plate-like than bowl-like, and the dial holes are very rough, even appearing octagonal in places instead of round. 

The un-round holes could be on account of a worn punch or evidence that this is a particular early example that is more crudely made.

The lack of a stem notch and the less pronounced edge angle is more interesting.  As you can see in the first photo, the holes line up nicely with the hour markers on this 33.5mm diameter watch and yet the edge of the guard extends over the edge of the winder.  Is this on purpose?  It does give an interesting look to the resulting combination wherein the nearly 40 mm guard gives the watch a commanding presence and the lack visible crown give the combo a particularly sleek look as well.  If this is an early example, perhaps the difficulty in winding and setting the watch caused Mr. Davidson to change his design.  Of course, comments and speculation are welcome.

On to the watch itself, the dial, case and movement are unmarked, which was quite common with trench watches especially those destined for continental sale.  Comparing the movement to those provided in Early Swiss Wristwatches and Their Manufacturers 1910-1930 by Vermeij and van Rijn, I was able to identify this 13-ligne movement as a 15 jewel model made by the General Watch Company of Bienne, Switzerland.  The aforementioned book lists a number of General Watch 13-ligne movements with this one being the only pin-set movement.

For those who don't already know, pin-set movements are those wherein a small pin (or button) is depressed and held in while setting the hour and minute hands. This is in contrast to stem set movements wherein the crown is pulled outwardly to engage the keyless works in a setting mode.  Stem set watches are much easier to use and presumably pin-set keyless works would only be used in lower end movements or before the stem set keyless works design was widely accepted.  In the instant case, the movement is a 15 jewel movement and not a less expensive 7 jewel movement and, as such, cannot be considered low end.       

The case is blackened steel.  The steel was treated during fabrication to darken the steel and perhaps most importantly provide a corrosion resistant surface that would not easily rust.  This also gives the watch a utilitarian look.