1916 Screw Dennison Case with mystery 17 Jewel movement..... Movement ID help!

[Sparcster]

Hi chaps!

I bought this watch a couple of days ago (buy it now).... no internal case pics, movement pics.... these were the best pics on the listing!







Not the prettiest watch in the world!!

What interested me was what looked like a screw front and back..... tried to get details from the seller (who sells a selection of what looks like car-boot/flee market items), but had no idea how to get the back off or age of the watch!

As a result.... took a complete gamble and bought it! Even though I have the watch in hand, I still dont know if this gamble paid off!!

First thing I noticed was all the grooves in the side of the case where someone had taken a knife to the case ..... thumb pressure was not enough to budge the case back! Was worried that the threads may have been damaged!

But... with the aid of a 'stress ball' wrapped in brown tape.... the case back unscrewed!


(work camera pics)




Was happy to see the case was made by dennison.... also happy to see the watch was fully hallmarked and could be dated to 1916..... have not mentioned yet... but the watch is really heavy!!!


Now onto the movement.... which 'ticks'...

I dont recognise the movement and cant see any makers marks.... but was surprised to see the movement was 17 jewel! Most I have seen from this period are 15 jewel!

Does anyone know what this is??







Thanks for any info/help!

[Mirius]

Congratulations, looks very nice

It looks somewhat like my AS340 but not exactly. I think you may need to take the dial off.

[Sparcster]

Congratulations, looks very nice

It looks somewhat like my AS340 but not exactly. I think you may need to take the dial off.

Thanks Mirius....

You are right... it does look like an AS340.... or a slight variation of it! Movement diameter is in the 28/29mm region!

Will look to get the dial off tonight (when I get home)... If I can get it off!

Marc

[C. Hurt]

There were several movement makers using very similar layouts to this, including Mazoni, A. Michel, A. Schild and Fontainemelon Freres. Mirius is correct that you may need to pull the dial to ID it from the setting parts, or if you're lucky there will be a makers stamp. 29 mm should be a 12 1/2 or 13 ligne movement.

My instinct is that this one is an FHF (Fontainemelon) 3.

[radger]

Not a bad trench watch at all, complete and original only having lost its
micro regulator.
This watch is definately a cut above the norm for the time with its heavy Dennison
screw case and adjusted 17 jewel movement ...nice one.

[C. Hurt]

Thanks Mirius....

You are right... it does look like an AS340.... or a slight variation of it! Movement diameter is in the 28/29mm region!

Will look to get the dial off tonight (when I get home)... If I can get it off!

Marc

Your should be able to remove the dial without removing the movement from the case.

Unscrew the bezel, remove the hands, and then loosen the two screws circled in red, and the dial should come free. You may need to gently push the dial feet with a piece of pegwood, but in my experience, the dial usually falls free when the screws are turned enough to disengage from the dial foot.

[Sparcster]

Thanks for the info C.Hunt... was one step ahead of you though and is already done!





Actually, the dial feet screws had not been put back in place to hold the dial in place! Also... the damage to the dial at '5' looks like it may have been caused by someone trying to get the dial off without unscrewing the dial feet screws...

As fot the movment 'ID'.... not lucky enough to have a makers name...

However, the patent number 51482 brought up this thread:

Help with ID of this swiss Jeanneret movement

The conversation did not seem to conclude what the movement was! But the patent issue date of 1911 does tie in with the date of the watch!

Radger - I was think 'what are those holes for'..... micro regulator!!

I can confirm the diameter is 29.3 (ish) mm of the movement!

further thoughts welcome!