Very rare and top quality, this Asprey has one of the best casebacks and a great J.W. Benson manual wind movement.
HOW DO WE DATE THIS WATCH?
This is a tale of company buyouts to get to the answer. Garrard bought J.W.Benson in 1973, and Garrard and Asprey merged in 1990 before splitting again in 2002. As this Asprey has a JW Benson movement, it has to date between 1990 and 2002. We have allowed a time for model development and said this was made circa 1992, but with such scarce watches information is always limited.
CONDITION
Tempus Fugit translates to Time Flies, and the case back of this watch shows the detail on place here for the discerning gentleman – this is no blingy sports watch to show off with, rather something that most people will not notice but those who do will want to know more. The inside of the caseback also tells a story, stamped for 18k gold and with the mark J.W. Benson for Asprey, but also a makers mark for Paul Picot – it is likely Paul Picot assembled the watches for Asprey, which is no bad thing as we have had Paul Picot watches before and rate them. The movement is marked J.W. Benson but is a nicely finished Peseux 7001, with blued screws and Côtes de Genève striping, despite not being visible to anyone but your watchmaker. That is always a sign of quality. The dial is likewise very nicely detailed, with guilloche patterning to the centre and outer edge, and hands with a design we have not seen before. The leather strap is new, and could be swapped for a different colour if preferred. The case has not been polished, so will show some light scratches which a jeweller could easily polish off if they bothered you, but we prefer to leave watches unpolished.
This watch will be supplied with our branded presentation box and our Certificate of Authenticity.
Please see the HD video for more detail. All photos and videos are part of the description and are of the actual watch unless mentioned. We do not photoshop any pictures, and the images are copyright of birthyearwatches.com and should not be used without permission.
SIZE
Width with crown 37.7 mm
Width without crown 34.7 mm
Between lugs 19 mm
Lug to lug length 43.3 mm
Case Thickness 7.3 mm
All sizes are approximate.
Included with this watch is a 3 month guarantee and free delivery to UK addresses. If you live outside the UK we can still deliver to most countries. Please see our Worldwide Shipping information, or Contact Us. Payment can be made by most credit or debit cards, bank transfer or PayPal.
From 1st September 2021 we will be planting a tree for every watch we sell, working with the International Tree Foundation (Est 1922) to make this business positive on carbon. By buying anything pre owned you are effectively reusing what already exists, but this takes it further and makes us feel good.
