British Newmark Crescent 5 Jewels Gold Tone Wristwatch with Leather Band, AS IS. Square white face, no numbers except for a circular second hand timer at the bottom middle with 15 second increments.
We cannot guarantee the working condition of any timepiece.
Condition: Doesn't wind.
Size: 1 1/2 x 9 1/2 in.
In 1872 brothers Louis and Michael Newmark, operating as Newmark Brothers Pawnbrokers, Jewellers and Glass Dealers in Llanelly, Monmouthshire, England, were forced to dissolve the business. Through careful restructuring Louis was able to retain some of the assets and opened a new business in 1875 manufacturing jewelry and importing watches. Some time over the next few years, to keep the business intact, Louis brought on his father, Marcus, as well as a new investor named Barnett Henry Abrahams. This company dissolved in 1885, with the assets again carefully repositioned so that Louis and two of his other brothers, Isidore and Montague, could open Newmark Brothers a year later. Their primary competition by this time was Ingersoll, with their German-made products marketed cheaply under the name “Torpedo.” In 1900 another dissolution occurred, at which time the company simply became Newmark, with Louis alone at the head. When World War I broke out they switched to Swiss imports, forming a lasting relationship with Jean Degoumois, later known for his “Avia” brand. Louis died in 1924, and the business passed to his young son Herbert, later joined by his brother Geoffrey, operating from new premises in Bishopsgate, London. However, internal strife impacted the company, as Louis’s widow Elizabeth vied for control of the business, as well as Louis Braham, the husband of their sister Phyllis whose expertise as a former watchmaker in Russia had been invaluable throughout the 20s. Braham split off to form his own company, which eventually went into voluntary liquidation in 1937 and was acquired by Louis Newmark Ltd, as the primary company was known by that time. During World War II the company moved to a new location in Croydon, where they have remained since, and by 1939 they were already the biggest importer of Swiss watches, while most of their own manufacturing was dedicated to producing anti-aircraft gunnery and providing maintenance work for the military. From the end of the war onward the British government took an interest in the company, likely due to their war efforts, with Colonel Derek Dealing Rothschild (the Government’s war-time Assistant Director of Mechanical Engineering) joining the company and encouraging them to manufacture watches of their own. Throughout the 1950s they became one of the biggest providers of cheap but well-made wristwatches in England, mixing Swiss and British components regularly. Unfortunately by 1961 Britain was facing supply and demand issues that forced the company to close, and most of the assets were sold off except for a small service facility at Bancroft Road, Reigate. This office continued to import watches, particularly Avia, which became their flagship brand and sold so well that by 1981 they were able to secure the worldwide rights to usage of the name. Various other departments of the original company evolved into other fields, particularly the Louis Newmark Aviation Ltd branch which produced military watches as well as avionic equipment. The remnants of the Louis Newmark watch service, distribution, and non-aviation industrial businesses went into receivership in 1995, followed by their instrumentation businesses in 1997. Their flagship Avia Watch International business then became part of Roventa-Henex of France before passing to Fossil Inc of the United States. The last family member to be directly involved in the manufacture and selling of watches, Geoffrey Louis Newmark, died at Dunsfold, Surrey in December 2003, with his son Wade joining as a director in namesake of the current iteration of Newmark Watch Company Ltd, formed in 2020 in Milton Keynes.
#5613 .
Condition
Doesn't wind.
