Dent Watch Serial Numbers

[Frank Menez]

I have started to compile a list of Dent Family watch serial numbers not listed in Mercer's book. Send me your Dent S/Ns I will add them to the list and also try to date the watch for you

Your Friendly Horologist Frank Menez

 

[Frank Menez]

I have started to compile a list of Dent Family watch serial numbers not listed in Mercer's book. Send me your Dent S/Ns I will add them to the list and also try to date the watch for you

Your Friendly Horologist Frank Menez

 

[John Pavlik]

Arnold & Dent 4067
E.I.Dent 13752
F. Dent 23960

Regards,
John Pavlik

 

[Jon Hanson]

A & D gilt KW lever #4984

Jon

Jon Hanson, NAWCC #8801
Founder and President Chapter 149, The Early American Watch Club

 

[Maurice Richesson]

E. J. Dent
16547
lever fusee
4 size
18 k OF HM 1851 maker CbH

Maurice

 

[Frank Menez]

JH MR Fuseez Thanks for the S/N

A&D 4067 Circa 1831
A&D 4984 Circa 1837

E.J. Dent 13752 Circa 1848
E.J. Dent 16547 Circa 1851

F.Dent 23960 Circa 1856

Frank Menez

 

[Jon Hanson]

FM,

Dent 33401 KW lever 45mm

Jon

Jon Hanson, NAWCC #8801
Founder and President Chapter 149, The Early American Watch Club

 

[Frank Menez]

JH
Thanks for the S/N Can you give me the address on this watch eg 61 Strand, 33 Cockspur etc. From the S/N 33401 it appears to be a product of E. Dent & Co Ltd Circa 1866

Frank

 

[Jon Hanson]

33 Cockspur Street London

Jon Hanson, NAWCC #8801
Founder and President Chapter 149, The Early American Watch Club

 

[Frank Menez]

JH
As you know the S/N system used by the Dent family can be very confusing. Can you tell me which Dent we are talking about S/N 33401? E.J Dent, M.F Dent, R.E. Dent were all at one time or another located at 33 Cockspur St. Mercer did the best he could with the available info however there are descrepancies in the book. As you may know the factory records for E. Dent & Co were lost in the Blitz of London. There may be some records else where such as the Guild Hall. This is not an easy task determining S/Ns and their makers FM

[This message was edited by Frank Menez on August 09, 2003 at 10:48.]

 

[Jon Hanson]

DENT 33401 33 Cockspur Street!!!

Jon Hanson, NAWCC #8801
Founder and President Chapter 149, The Early American Watch Club

 

[Ralph]

A movement, w/pat'd resilient escapement.

Dent , 61 Strand & 4 Royal Exchange, London

#42234

A second movement, w/ Duplex escapement

E J Dent, London,

#8808

A nicely finished 1/4 repeater movement w/cylinder escapement...dial missing.

Marked on the cock

E J Dent
Strand

No apparent serial number....makes it hard to date.

Ralph

 

[David Thomas]

Hallmark 1860 23604 33 Cockspur Street
Hallmark 1863 30207 61 Strand
Hallmark 1868 25904 33 Cockspur Street

Regards
Dave

 

[Frank Menez]

Ralph & D.T. Thanks for the info on your Dent's

S/N 42234 Circa 1883
8808 Circa 1853

23604 Circa 1860 33 Cockspur
25904 Circa 1868 33 Cockspur
30207 Circa 1863 61 Srand

There appears to be some difference depending on the address. The Hall Marks fit nicely with Mercer's dates Will let you know if I discover further info on your watch S/N & date Frank Menez

 

[John Pavlik]

Frank,

Thanks for the dating of my 3.....Maybe I should of added, they are all full plate fusee levers, with the E.J. Dent having a 2 pin roller table..

Regards,
John Pavlik

 

[Oliver Mundy]

33927 is a movement with Nicole Nielsen winding gear, signed on the dial ‘DENT / 61 STRAND & / 34 ROYAL EXCHANGE / LONDON’. The movement adds ‘Watchmaker to the Queen’. A recent book (Leibe, Miller's Watches, a Collector's Guide, 1999) illustrates an identical watch numbered 33797 and associates it with a hallmark date of 1868.

The Watch Cabinet

 

[Frank Menez]

O. M. Thanks for the Serial Numbers etc.

These watches appear to be a product of E. Dent & Co

S/N 33927 Circa 1868
S/N 33797 Circa 1868
E. Dent & Co is listed in Mercer's book as being in business from 1860-75 After this time it was known as E. Dent & Co Ltd and their clocks /watches had the trademark triangle. The movement was probably made by Nicole & Capt. In 1876 The firm became known as Nicole. Neilsen.
Frank Menez

[This message was edited by Frank Menez on August 10, 2003 at 12:09.]

 

[Frank Menez]

4th Dimension

S/N 22239 According to Mercer between 1840 and until his death 1853 E.J.Dent produced a series of watches S/N 5041 thru 24444 Circa 1853-55 appears to be the date of your watch.I assume many of his watches were cased after his death by his step son. Watches 22665 thru 26673 have F. Dent (Stepson) on the dial & Movement. Frank Menez

 

[David Thomas]

Arnold & Dent London No 4592 in a Gold case Hallmarked 1835, lever escapement

 

[Dave Chaplain]

7760 detent escapement keywind movement and dial in Chamberlain display case, EJ Dent Watchmaker to the Queen

19533 lever escapment finger set in demi-hunter thin silver case hallmarked 1852 signed AN (Adolph Nicole), dial signed and numbered EJ Dent, Nicole Nielson patent winding, seconds register at the 9 position

Dave

 

[Frank Menez]

Dave

Arnold & Dent No. 4618 Circa 1835

The date of 1835 is right for your Arnold & Dent S/N 4592

Frank

 

[stephenlouis]

Dent

82 Strand London

No.5911

Circa 1843

 

[Frank Menez]

Stephenlouis

100 Years of Precision Time Keepers from John Arnold to Arnold & Frodsham 1763-1862 contains the following info on E.J. Dent watches.

S/N 5738 Lever Circa 1839

5959 Lever Circa 1840

It appears that S/N 5911 would be Circa 1840. E. J. Dent was at 82 Strand from 1840 to 1853.



Frank Menez

 

[stephenlouis]

Thank you very much for that information!

I was estimating,it is nice to know its actual date.One of his early solo efforts?

 

[Frank Menez]

Stephenlouis

Found another E.J. Dent watch that may confirm the date of your watch S/N 5991

S/N 6003 Circa 1840

6372 Circa 1841

Frank Menez

 

[howardsandys]

Frank

I have a small Dent pin set pocket watch conversion wristwatch. The serial # is 62054 and the 18K case has a diameter of 33MM. The inscription on the movement shows the address as 28 Cockspur in London. Can you date it and tell me anything more about this watch? Thanks-howardsandys

 

[gelas]

Stephenlouis

Found another E.J. Dent watch that may confirm the date of your watch S/N 5991

S/N 6003 Circa 1840

6372 Circa 1841

Frank Menez

Dent watchmaker to theQueen 61 Strand London (the hunting case, number coincides with movement number № 36561). Hallmark 1873.

 

[gelas]

Frank

I have a small Dent pin set pocket watch conversion wristwatch. The serial # is 62054 and the 18K case has a diameter of 33MM. The inscription on the movement shows the address as 28 Cockspur in London. Can you date it and tell me anything more about this watch? Thanks-howardsandys

Judging by number and the address - с. 1925-1930

 

[Keith H]

Hi,
I have this one to hand.
Dent, Serial 44317, 61 Strand & 4 Royal Exchange, in a silver Half Hunter case, marked Dent 44317, casemaker JO (James Oliver?). Hallmarked London 1888. Full Plate, Pendant set & Wind.
I've a few others I'll dig out when I get a chance.
Regards
Keith

 

[Robert MacDonald]

Hello everyone. I've recently become interested in watches again and I have a movement I'm trying to identify. It is a Dent with matching dial and movement numbers in excellent condition. The serial number is 32764, which I'm guessing places it around 1864-1865. The address on both the movement and dial is 34 Cockspur St. The signature on the dial is simply "Dent" and the address and serial number. On the movement, it is signed "Dent" and "Watchmaker to the King & Queen". The movement measures roughly 44.5mm across the movement and 46mm across the dial.

Here are some quick photographs I took of the movement. They are very large.









My questions are:

Have I identified this movement correctly?
Is it a real Dent, or is it a fake?
I need a case for it. Will a standard size 18 case work, or will I have to have one made?

I've been reading through this site for a few weeks now, and it has helped me identify a Waltham and Elgin, but I'm just not sure about this Dent. It seems to me that if this is an authentic Dent, then it is fairly rare, as not many are marked simple "Dent" and the company only operated as Dent & Co. for a short time. It may just as likely be an imitation, as it is before Dent started using the triangle trademark. I just don't know. So what do you folks think?

Thanks, in advance, for any help you can give me.

Bob MacDonald

 

[mrskris]

serial number 11296 J. Dent, 18k 22 jewels hunting case. Date made

 

[Frank Menez]

The movement for Dent S/N 11296 was made by John Bryer London 1847. E.J. Dent was the retailer. Bryer is listed as being in business from 1844-81.

 

[Keith H]

Movement & Dial Marked Arnold & Dent, London. Serial 5165,

Fusee lever. Has a brass balance wheel with a gold hairspring collet and gold lever.

Possibly anti magnetic attempt ?

 

[Frank Menez]

Arnold Dent were in partnership 1830-40

S/Ns 5155 & 5188 are recorded as being made Circa 1837

S/N 5165 would be about C 1837

 

[Audemars]

Frank,
I wasn't aware of this thread as I joined relatively recently.
We have a LOT of Audemars' serial numbers sold to Dent - see my PM to you today.
P

 

[mrskris]

Frank.....Thank you so much....The watch is beautiful and is a key wind and key set with both keys....18 k.....I am so thankful that I can tell the family....
Thankyou Thank you for your help!!!

 

[Frank Menez]

Edward John Dent and his Successors by Vaudrey Mercer Page 711

E.J Dent & E. Dent & Co Movement Manufactures

Audermars- Starting at S/N 561 C 1852 and ending S/N 1630 1854

With the exception of one watch S/N 1630 C1854 the rest of the watches listed are dated 1852. There are 99 watch S/N listed.

 

[Audemars]

Well I appear to have around 400 numbers which appear to have been sold to F Dent & Co from around 1881 - around 1884. (Some of them might be J Dent, the script is sometimes a bit difficult to read. In my ignorance I have for the purpose of analysis treated them as the same customer.)

We also have a large number of shipments to LA London stock from 1880 - 1885, some of which could also have been sold to Dent - in whatever incarnation.

There are indications that although sold to Dent by Audemars' London subsidiary, many of them might have been "resourced" - to use a modern term - from other factories. But that would be a whole new analysis.

P

 

[Audemars]

Further to last posting, here are (WORD .doc file) the numbers we know to have been sold by Audemars in London to Dent.
P

 

[Frank Menez]

In your post I thing it should read E. Dent & Co. F. Dent would indicate Federeick Dent E.J. Dents stepson who took over the business when E.J. Dent died in 1853. Frederick Dent died in 1860. E. Dent & Co was established in 1864.

I am unable to open the Word Doc, could you send it to me PDF?

 

[Audemars]

Definitely not E Dent.
The script looks like F to me (I have been looking at the books for three years now) but some of them could possibly be Js.
Can't do PDF files (it's called senility)
Please reply to my PM with an e-mail address and then I'll be able to send you the .xls file in it's entirety.
P

 

[Frank Menez]

Frederick William Dent 1853-60

His watch movement serial numbers start around 22665 Circa 1855 to 26950 Circa 1860.

MF Dent (Marrianna Frederica Dent) Movements made by Audemars

23278-23279 Circa 1861 27954 Circa 1875 29122 Circa 1879 29124-29125 Circa 1879

These are some of the S/Ns found in Vaudrey Mercers Book.

 

[moskau]

Frank


My Dent has the ser.nr. 27930 and is signed at the Dial and the plate with:


'Dent – 61, Strand London – 27930'


The case is hallmarked London 1861 or 1874 ('f' or 't' - it is hard for me to identify the date letter exactly. But I believe, the former postings suggest the date of 1874/75)
The form of the case would rather match the 1874 date, but the movement looks possibly a bit unusual for a fullplate fusee of the mid 70's:
It is wound and set(!) from the rear (preventing height, i think)..The spring ratchet is also on the top plate and the train is reversed.

I try to attach some pictures for illustration.

Kind regards,
Harald

 

[Frank Menez]

Edward John Dent by Vaudrey Mercer Page 724

S/Ns 27930 27931 These movement were made for E.Dent & Co. by John B. Gibbons London (1844-69). in 1861 The record shows that 27931 was a Deck Watch purchased Oct 1862.

PS It looks like the case maker was Thomas Holliday of London

 

[moskau]

Thank you very much for the helpfull and prompt information!

H.

 

[C Andrews]

Hi,

I've just started on a career in watch repair, and got a bit carried away and purchased a few watches and movements off ebay.

One of them is a Dent. I was happy to pay the £67 for the movement, even although it's not currently working, as it can provide me the motivation to get it up and running again. Plus it's an absolutely great looking movement, and hopefully one day it'll be a great pocket watch that I can wear with pride.

The serial number is 5991. You can view photos on the ebay page here: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120720892466&ss

I would guess that makes it 1840. Can you confirm?

Thanks

 

[C Andrews]

Hi,

I've just started on a career in watch repair, and got a bit carried away and purchased a few watches and movements off ebay.

One of them is a Dent. I was happy to pay the £67 for the movement, even although it's not currently working, as it can provide me the motivation to get it up and running again. Plus it's an absolutely great looking movement, and hopefully one day it'll be a great pocket watch that I can wear with pride.

The serial number is 5991. You can view photos on the ebay page here: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120720892466&ss

I would guess that makes it 1840. Can you confirm?

Thanks

Sorry, the s/n is actually 15991, so that looks like it would be c1850. Is that right?

 

[Frank Menez]

Edward John Dent and his Successors by Vaudrey Mercer Page 719 (E. Dent & Co.'s Manufactures)

S/Ns 15978 thru 16061 Movements made by John B. Gibbons London 1851. Gibbons is recorded as being in business 1844-69

 

[Frank Menez]

E. Dent & Co's Manufacturers

The address for John B. Gibbions 64 Hatton Gardens London

 

[C Andrews]

Thanks Frank that's really useful.

The area is in Camden town, and still has a few jewellery shops nearby.

Does that mean that Dent himself wouldn't have been involved at all in the movement's manufacture?

I was rather naively hoping that he'd have had at least a little input, perhaps even if it was just the signature.