Double-signatures on watches is something many collectors yearn for. It is an extra touch of rarity and another detail that catches our imaginations with watch collecting. This Universal Genève is a perfect example of that with a rare signed dial with famous London based jeweler, JW Benson.

In 1847 Samuel Suckley Benson and James William Benson formed a company called S. S. & J. W. Benson in London at Cornhill and Ludgate Hill. Their partnership continued until it was dissolved in 1855 when James Benson formed JW Benson. They were the watchmaker to Admiralty & the War Department and were watchmakers for many famous people including royalty of England and Russia. They manufactured and sold many watches during their existence.

The watch you see here is a watch that was produced in 1945 by Universal Genève, towards the end of World War II. The watch has a real war time era feel to it, with a stainless steel case and very military styled dial with applied hour markers and numbers. During World War II, JW Benson’s factory was destroyed so they focused on their retail business and one of the companies they sold was, you guessed it, Universal Genève. This is a watch that was sold in London and JW Benson signed the dial at 6 o’clock. Not only does that make it special, it adds a bit of rarity because JW Benson is no longer in existence after its acquisition in 1973 by Garrards.

This watch definitely holds some pretty important history for the manufacture and JW Benson. The blued-steel hands really pop on this creamy patina-ing dial and with a blue leather strap, boy does it look good.

This watch is available on our store here.

Enjoy!