Le Cheminant

Le Cheminant Watch Company is a brand that dates back to the first half of the 19th century. Originally a jeweller, it has since become principally a watch maker and, in the early 20th century, supplied chronometers and deck watches to the Royal Navy. Since the 1950s it has concentrated on watches and is currently based in Surrey, UK.

Company History

The known references for Le Cheminant begin in February, 1847, when Mr. Le Cheminant, a jeweller, has a shop at 72 Wimpole Street, London.^[1] The British Museum has a rare watch paper which places him at the virtually identical address of 72A, Wimpole Street.^[2] Although John Le Cheminant, "watchmaker and jeweller" died on 1 February 1876,^[3] the name continued, with Le Cheminant appearing in trade directories as 'watch maker' at the same address, 72a Wimpole Street, in 1884.^[4] By 1915 Le Cheminant has an address at 81 Wigmore Street, in the same London district, and was inscribing this address on its timepieces.^[5]

At this time Le Cheminant was among several companies which supplied precision timepieces to the British Royal Navy. In 1909 and 1915 the Royal Navy bought chronometers costing £19 and £16 10/- that saw service on the HMS Dido and HMS Titania respectively.^[6] The Royal Navy also purchased deck watches from Le Cheminant – a batch of six in December 1915, costing between £5 5/- and £5 15/-, and another batch of six in December 1915, costing between £6 5/- and £6 15/-. Most of these were retired from service in the 1930s. Until then, the watches served on a variety of ships, including Motor Torpedo Boats (HTMB 033, 052 and 055); L1, a British L-class submarine; P15, a Royal Navy patrol vessel, and the HMS Collingwood.

By 1923 Le Cheminant had become Le Cheminant and Co, at 97 Wigmore Street on the corner of Duke Street.^[7] Classified ads appeared frequently with this address in The Times until December 1933,^[8] offering the reassuring information in 1927 that they had been established 100 years^[9] and, in 1929, that Le Cheminant had been established in 1822,^[10] significant because this date became a strong feature of the brand in later years.

By September 1957^[11] Le Cheminant was bought by Suffolk-based retail watchmakers and jewellers, the Betts family. Antony, Stuart and Gordon Betts were brothers and directors of Betts (Ipswich) Ltd. The main branch of Le Cheminant, however, was at 106 Wigmore Street, and the 1967 catalogue lists branches in Norwich (17 Castle Street), Leicester (1 Odeon Arcade, Market Place), and Bristol (81, The Horsefair).

Among the Le Cheminant models at this time were ladies’ watches with a variety of gold bracelets,^[12] children’s watches, pendant and nurses’ watch. All incorporated the Incabloc Shock Protection System. The Master Mariner series was one of their best-known lines and some models bore a close resemblance to high-end models on the market, such as the Precision Astrochon by Ollech and Wajs and chronographs by Rotary.^[13]

On the retirement of the Betts family, the company was taken over by Peter Reade, who ran it in Ipswich until 2007, when it was purchased by the present owner, Stephen Grostate.

Royal Naval Vessels which received Le Cheminant chronographs and deck watches from the Royal Observatory, Greenwich

Vessels are grouped according to the time-piece they received.

Chronometers

HMS Dido (17 March 1916)^[14]

HMS Titania, a submarine depot ship (22 April 1916)^[15]

HMS Chrysanthemum (15 May 1925)^[15]

Deck Watches

HMTB 033 (12 January 1916)^[16]

HMS Verdun (13 August 1927) ^[16]

HM Oil Tanker War Sepoy (26 August 1927)^[16]

HMS Despatch (23 January 1933)^[16]

HMS "P15" (1 April 1916) ^[17]

HMS Malaya (5 April 1933)^[17]

HMS Selkirk (12 November 1934) ^[17]

HMTB 052^[18]

HMS/nr "L1"^[18]

HMTB 055 (13 January 1916)^[19]

RFA War Sepoy (31 May 1933)^[19]

HMS Collingwood (7 July 1916)^[20]

HMS Resolution (6 January 1928)^[20]

HMS Alarm (13 January 1916)^[21]

HMS Obdurate (30 March 1916)^[21]

HMS Roxburgh (17 June 1916)^[21]

HMS Resolution (23 December 1916)^[22]

HMS Caradox (11 July 1930)^[22]

HMS Hermes (23 October 1934)^[22]

RFA Silverol(27 December 1916)^[23]

HMS Whitley (17 September 1920)^[23]

HM Tug St Martin (2 May 1927)^[23]

HMS Greenwich (22 November 1917)^[24]

HMS Durban (31 August 1931)^[24][25]

HMS Shark (16 November 1934)^[24]

HMS Acasta (19 February 1936)^[24]

HMS Trinidad (4 February 1929)^[25]

HMS Submarine E51 (1 January 1917)^[26]

HMS Surprise (2 January 1917)^[27]

HMTr William Hutchinson, Admiralty Trawler^[28] (26 June 1918)^[27]

HMS Ormonde (5 March 1924)^[27]

HMS Whitehall (14 August 1928)^[27]

Distribution and repairs

New Le Cheminant designs are only available from the brand owner, Stephen Grostate, who also repairs existing models.^[29]

References

12730