TOPIC:

I thought members should be aware that the Bulgarian watch industry has recently started producing Anglo-Boer War themed pieces.
They have been making fake Imperial Russian and Nazi watches for many years, but appear to be branching out .....
sodimi-86 is the seller of the two Kruger watches shown below.

The back of the first example seems at first to depict a Boer with rifle, but the Swiss makers, Holy Freres, produced these as patriotic pieces during WWI.









The last example is in my collection. The watch itself appears to be correct, carrying South African scenes, and with the name "A.J. Gouws 18 April 1880 Jansenville" scratched on the inside cover. It came from a well-respected South African collection, purchased through a reputable Johannesburg auction house. The odd portrait of "Joubert" (looking nothing like General Joubert, young or old) appears to have been added to "enhance" the watch's value. Closer inspection shows that the dial has some form of plastic coating and it is not cold to the touch (as an authentic enamel dial should be). I only recently noticed this when I took a better look at it after seeing the other watches emanating from Sofia.

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Three more watches that look "wrong" to me. Worryingly all three are being sold by a London-based dealer.

The first watch uses the image from an illuminated Imperial Yeomanry service certificate (reproduced below).

The second watch uses the image from a pre-ABW 1899 calendar, printed as an advertisement for Geo. A. Blackburn, tea merchant, Halifax (again, reproduced below).

The last "goliath" watch is to an officer who did not serve in South Africa. A Malmesbury detachment, made up of 14 men of the 2nd V.B. Wiltshire Regiment, did indeed serve and received watches on their return, each inscribed: "MALMESBURY'S THANKS TO [Private A Parsloe] 2nd V.B. Wiltshire Regt. FOR ACTIVE SERVICE IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN CAMPAIGN, 1900-1". However, Doswell did not sail for the Cape with them. This watch has an eye-watering price tag of £3,459.00. The first two are priced at £1,295.50 a piece.









Courtesy of Rendells Auctioneers



Courtesy of Mullocks Auctioneers



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More skulduggery ....?

From the same London-based dealer as featured in my last post.

Being offered on eBay for £9,995 GBP (item no. 364915041160; 27 May 2024).

15 months later, all three watches discussed above remain unsold .......



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Whoever made and engraved that watch was apparently unaware that Rorke's Drift was in Natal not Zululand.