Cherish an Antique Day: three marine watches we love

Did you know the 9^th April (today) is the day marked out for all antique enthusiasts as Cherish an Antique Day? This day is relatively self-explanatory, but just to clarify, it’s dedicated to appreciating objects of a unique nature, which were created at a time when craftsmanship and quality were the order of business…..

The idea of this day is to celebrate past artistry of all types of vintage and antique items, as well as to create an awareness of how such beautiful items have stood the test of time, and still hold a timeless and special appeal in today’s day and age.

It’s hoped, among dealers and collectors alike, that by dedicating a day to the appreciation of antiques, such as the range of antique marine watches, and other timepieces, that pieces of the past will be cherished in the modern day.

With this in mind, we thought we would showcase three of our favourite vintage marine watches currently in our catalogue of movements.

Why not take a look and see what you think?

Silver Deck Watch by Ulysse Nardin

Ulysse Nardin sure knew what they were doing when they created this piece of brilliance. A mid-20^th(circa 1940) century Swiss centre seconds lever deck watch comes accompanied by an unusual octagonal mahogany desk stand. The specification of one of the premium items in our marine watch catalogue can be found below.

Keyless gilt bar movement with going barrel, the centre seconds transfer wheel above.
Plain cock with polished steel micrometer regulator.
Club foot lever escapement, escape pivots with endstones.
Heavy compensation balance with blue steel overcoil hairspring.
Signed and numbered white enamel dial marked “CW” and with the Ministry of Defence broad arrow mark.
Centre seconds, Roman numerals, and blue steel hands.
Silver open face case, glassless bezel, the screw back engraved with the Ministry arrow and “H.S.^2”, Nardin’s makers mark.
Unusual purpose-made octagonal mahogany desk stand housing the brass keep case with glazed screw bezel.
Winding crown is accessed by sliding three sides out from the remaining five.

Silver Cased Deck Watch by Nardin

A mid-20^th(circa 1940) century Swiss deck watch, this amazing piece of craftwork produced by Nardin is one of the finest examples you will see, and here’s the spec to explain why:

A keyless gilt bar movement with going barrel.
Plain cock with polished steel regulator.
Compensation balance with blue steel overcoil hairspring.
Club foot lever escapement, escape and lever pivots with endstones in gold settings.
Signed silvered dial with subsidiaries for seconds and 36 hour power reserve, Roman numerals, blue steel hands.
Substantial plain silver open face case, hinged back and bezel, signed silver cuvette, Nardin’s makers mark.
Three tier mahogany deck box with chromed fittings, the top with a signed plate and number.

Swiss Centre Seconds Deck Watch by Longines

Longines’ beautiful Swiss pocket marine watch is a 20^thcentury (circa 1930) centre seconds lever deck watch with British military markings in a stainless steel open face case. The keyless 16 jewel gilt bar movement marked with the Ministry of Defence broad arrow.

Featuring a signed and numbered white enamel dial with centre seconds, Arabic numerals, and blue steel gold hands, you can see why this plain stainless steel open faced case movement is one of our favourite picks.