1917 silver round vintage Kirkby & Bunn ‘Officers’ watch

Date:           1917

Case:            Silver, 35mm

Movement:Swiss manual wind

Dial:             White enamel, black Roman numerals

Lugs:             14mm

A 1917, early large silver vintage Kirkby & Bunn, ‘Borgel’ Officers watch. The case measures 35mm in diameter. The case is signed FB (Francois Borgel) and hallmarked Glasgow 1917. The Swiss Made manual wind movement has 15 jewels, with pin-set hands. The white enamel dial has black Roman numerals with a red twelve, subsidiary seconds dial and fine blued steel hands. The dial is signed Kirkby & Bunn, Old Bond Street, W1, above the centre.

Francois Borgel designed these cases and patented them in October 1891 in Geneva, with a Swiss Brevet or patent number 4001. They were then patented in London in November 1891 with patent number 20422. The Borgel case was an early design to try to make wrist watches resistant to dust and moisture. It is a one piece case, where the movement and bezel are mounted on a threaded ring which screws into the case from the front. Borgel cases continued to be manufactured after his death in 1912, initially by his daughter Louisa, and later by Taubert & Fils. Taubert & Fils were renown Geneva-based case makers and specialising in water-resistant cases.