1920s 18ct gold vintage International Watch Company (IWC) ‘Half-Hunter’ watch

A rare early 18ct gold vintage International Watch Company (I.W.C.) half-hunter wristwatch. The case measures 31mm in diameter. The case is hallmarked Glasgow 1929, with ‘The Mark of Confidence’ and numbered. There is a button at four o’clock to open the front of the case. The Swiss manual wind movement is signed S.S.& Co. and has a hinged protective dust cover. The white enamel dial has black Roman numerals, a subsidiary seconds dial and fine blued steel hands. The dial is signed IWC, Schaffhausen above the centre. The front of the case has dark blue enamel Roman numerals around the small glass to the centre.

A fabulous I.W.C. half-hunter wristwatch, in wonderful condition!

Half Hunter wristwatch

This style of watch, with a smaller glass cover is called a ‘half hunter’. The name comes from huntsmen (men on horseback) and their requirements for a watch. Early pocket watches were open faced and the glass was easily cracked during a hunt. A hunter pocket watch had a solid cover over the face, by depressing a button on the winding crown the cover would pop open to check the time (easily done with one hand by the huntsman). A variation of this was introduced, with a small glass in the centre of the protective cover, so one could see the time without opening the cover.