A Superb Excavated ‘Grand Tour’ Fine Bronze Age Lance Head, Trojan War Period 3200+ Years Old. From the Legendary Age of Hector, Agamemnon,Paris, Helen of Troy and Achilles

Dominant central rib, graduating long triangular blade and engraved socket. A lance or spear head traded with the Eastern Mediterranean Scythians, Persians and Greeks during the 2nd to Ist millennium B.C. around 2700 to 3200 years ago. Copper alloy circa 1200 B.C. A beautiful Bronze Age battle spear, probably the most used and popular weapon of all the ancient wars of antiquity. Items such as this were oft acquired in the 18th and early 19th century by British noblemen and women touring famous battle sites and their regions in Europe, especially Northern France, Italy and the Middle East on their Grand Tour. Originally placed on display in the family 'cabinet of curiosities', within their country house upon their return home. A popular pastime in the 18th and 19th century, comprised of English ladies and gentlemen traveling for many months, or even years, througout classical Europe, and Middle East, acquiring antiquities and antiques for their private collections.
One such family’s descendants have been allowing us to purchase such wonderful pieces from their family collection for around the past 30 years.
This is a most handsome ancient bronze weapon from the era of the so called Trojan Wars. The ancient Greeks believed the Trojan War was a historical event that had taken place in the 13th or 12th century BC, and believed that Troy was located in modern day Turkey near the Dardanelles. In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta. The war is among the most important events in Greek mythology and was narrated in many works of Greek literature, including Homer's Iliad and the Odyssey . "The Iliad" relates a part of the last year of the siege of Troy, while the Odyssey describes the journey home of Odysseus, one of the Achaean leaders. Other parts of the war were told in a cycle of epic poems, which has only survived in fragments. Episodes from the war provided material for Greek tragedy and other works of Greek literature, and for Roman poets such as Virgil and Ovid.

The war originated from a quarrel between the goddesses Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite, after Eris, the goddess of strife and discord, gave them a golden apple, sometimes known as the Apple of Discord, marked "for the fairest". Zeus sent the goddesses to Paris, who judged that Aphrodite, as the "fairest", should receive the apple. In exchange, Aphrodite made Helen, the most beautiful of all women and wife of Menelaus, fall in love with Paris, who took her to Troy. Agamemnon, king of Mycenae and the brother of Helen's husband Menelaus, led an expedition of Achaean troops to Troy and besieged the city for ten years due to Paris' insult. After the deaths of many heroes, including the Achaeans Achilles and Ajax, and the Trojans Hector and Paris, the city fell to the ruse of the Trojan Horse. The Achaeans slaughtered the Trojans (except for some of the women and children whom they kept or sold as slaves) and desecrated the temples, thus earning the gods' wrath. Few of the Achaeans returned safely to their homes and many founded colonies in distant shores. The Romans later traced their origin to Aeneas, one of the Trojans, who was said to have led the surviving Trojans to modern day Italy. Made in copper bronze in the Western Asiatic region. Western Asiatic bronzes refer to items dating from roughly 1500-500 BC that have been excavated since the late 1920?s in the Harsin, Khorramabad and Alishtar valleys of the Zagros Mountains especially at the site of Tepe Sialk. Scholars believe they were created by either the Cimmerians or by such related Indo-European peoples as the early Medes and Persians. Weapons from this region were highly sought after by warriors of many cultures because of their quality, balance and durability. Graduating blade with socket. Rich deep age patination with superb natural encrustations This piece is 14 1/2 inches long overall. As with all our items it comes complete with our certificate of authenticity.  read more

Code: 23019

One of The Earliest Pieces of Its Kind You May See Anywhere In the World, An Original Man-Made Weapon and Tool A Most Fine, Large, Palaeolithic 300,000 Year Old Stone Age Hand Axe

A most fine and impressive axe of large size and in superb condition. An axe one could only normally expect to see in the British Museum or the Smithsonian. Only a few months ago, another very similar example, also determined to be 300,000 years old, was found in Kent, and it made world news, appearing in hundreds of newspapers and news programmes around the globe.

It is simply incredible to try to comprehend just how long human kind walked the earth with so little improvement in weapon and tool making. from the Palaeolithic right through to the Neolithic age covering around 300,000 years and it wasn't until less than 5,000 years ago that the move from stone to bronze enabled the incredible leap forward right through to the modern day. From bronze age axes and spears to flights to Mars, in under 5000 years, yet for the previous 295,000 years we made little or no progress at all, such as from big knapped flint axes, to small polished ones.

To put the time frame in today's context, when Anthony and Cleopatra were conducting their famous affair in ancient Egypt, over 2000 years ago, this flint axe would have still been 298,000 years old to them.

Precisely when and where did our species emerge Anthropologists have struggled with that question for decades, and scattered clues had suggested the answer lay somewhere in sub-Saharan Africa about 200,000 years ago.

However, new evidence now exists as outlined in two papers published in the journal Nature that challenges that hypothesis. Instead, the authors describe recently discovered remains that suggest the first Homo sapiens showed up more than 100,000 years earlier than we thought in a place many experts didn't suspect.

The fossils could represent the earliest known examples of H. sapiens ever found (if confirmed by further research), and they serve as evidence that members of our species lived beyond sub-Saharan Africa. As with all our items it will be accompanied with our lifetime guarantee Certificate of Authenticity. 8.25 inches long very substantial & weighty  read more

Code: 22746

Royal Bronze Battle Mace From 2,500 to 3,200 Years Old. From the Era of Rameses the Great of Egypt, to Darius, King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire

13th-6th century BC. This is a classic style royal baton mace head of the ancient Bronze Age culture. Examples of this mace can be seen in several of the world's finest ancient Near Eastern bronze collections. The shaft is elaborately decorated with raised striking knobs of a herringbone design. This was an effective striking weapon likely used by high-ranking soldiers or royal subjects due to its extremely decorative design. In battle, maces like this were often used by commanders to display rank when giving orders in battle and leading soldiers, inspiring leadership and power. A substantial bronze cudgel and mace with tubular body, ribbed collar, flared rim and panels of raised herringbone ornament. Ist to 2nd Millennium B.C. In use it would have slotted onto a wooden haft. Items such as this were oft acquired in the 18th century by British noblemen touring the Middle East, Northern France and Italy on their Grand Tour. Originally placed on display in the family 'cabinet of curiosities', within his country house upon his return home. A popular pastime in the 18th and 19th century, comprised of English ladies and gentlemen traveling for many months, or even years, throughout classical Europe, and the Middle East, acquiring antiquities and antiques for their private collections. The use of the stone headed mace as a weapon and a symbol od status and ceremony goes back to the Upper Palaeolithic stone age, but an important, later development in mace heads was the use of metal for their composition. With the advent of copper mace heads, they no longer shattered and a better fit could be made to the wooden club by giving the eye of the mace head the shape of a cone and using a tapered handle.

Ramesses the Great, was the third pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt. Along with Thutmose III he is often regarded as the greatest, most celebrated, and most powerful pharaoh of the New Kingdom, itself the most powerful period of Ancient Egypt.

The Shardanas or warriors from Sardinia who fought for Ramses II against the Hittities were armed with maces, exactly as this fabulous example, consisting of rounded wooden hafts with the bronze mace heads slotted upon the hafts. Many bronze statuettes of the times show Sardinian warriors carrying swords, bows and original maces.

Darius the Great, was a Persian ruler who served as the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his death in 486 BCE. He ruled the empire at its territorial peak, when it included much of Western Asia, parts of the Balkans (Thrace–Macedonia and Paeonia) and the Caucasus, most of the Black Sea's coastal regions, Central Asia, the Indus Valley in the far east, and portions of North Africa and Northeast Africa including Egypt (Mudrâya), eastern Libya, and coastal Sudan.

Darius ascended the throne by overthrowing the legitimate Achaemenid monarch Bardiya, whom he later fabricated to be an imposter named Gaumata. The new king met with rebellions throughout his kingdom and quelled them each time; a major event in Darius' life was his expedition to subjugate Greece and punish Athens and Eretria for their participation in the Ionian Revolt. Although his campaign ultimately resulted in failure at the Battle of Marathon, he succeeded in the re-subjugation of Thrace and expanded the Achaemenid Empire through his conquests of Macedon, the Cyclades and the island of Naxos as well as the sacked Greek city of Eretria.

Persians used a variety of maces and fielded large numbers of heavily armoured and armed cavalry (cataphracts). For a heavily armed Persian knight, a mace was as effective as a sword or battle axe. In fact, Shahnameh has many references to heavily armoured knights facing each other using maces, axes, and swords. The enchanted talking mace Sharur made its first appearance in Sumerian/Akkadian mythology during the epic of Ninurta. Roman though auxiliaries from Syria Palestina were armed with clubs and maces at the battles of Immae and Emesa in 272 AD. They proved highly effective against the heavily armoured horsemen of Palmyra. Photos in the gallery of original carvings from antiquity in the British Museum etc.; Ashurbanipal at the Battle of Til-Tuba, Assyrian Art / British Museum, London/ 650-620 BC/ Limestone,, An Assyrian soldier waving a mace escorts four prisoners, who carry their possessions in sacks over their shoulders. Their clothes and their turbans, rising to a slight point which flops backwards, are typical of the area; people from the Biblical kingdom of Israel, shown on other sculptures, wear the same dress, on a gypsum wall panel relief, South West Palace, Nimrud, Kalhu Iraq, neo-assyrian, 730BC-727BC.
A recovered tablet from Egypt's Early Dynastic Period (3150-2613 BC) shows a Pharaoh smiting his foe with a war mace. Part of an original collection we have just acquired, of antiquities, Roman, Greek, Middle Eastern, Viking and early British relics of warfare from ancient battle sites recovered up to and around 220 years ago. As with all our items it comes complete with our certificate of authenticity. This wonderful piece would have been made and traded throughout the Western Asiatic region. 551 grams, 24cm (9 1/4").  read more

Code: 23421

A Fabulous Napoleonic Peninsular & Waterloo Era British Light Dragoon Sword

Yet another one of our wonderful swords for sale. This British officer's sword, used by an officer under Wellington's command has a wonderful Kilij style blade with a double edged bottom section. It is a superb British sword cutlers representation of the Kilij and Shamshir swords captured at the Battle of The Nile, in the Egypt Campaign at the Battle of Aboukir and the Battle of Alexandria, and inspired so many sword designs of both the French and British protagonists. It has its London maker engraved cartouch on the scabbard throat, that, although worn and indistinct, is likely by Thomas Gill of London. When one holds this sword one can easily imagine the great turmoil and conflicts of battle its owners have seen, in fact some of the greatest cavalry charges and conflagrations that have ever been witnessed. In the early part of the 19th century the great Allied Powers conflict against Napoleon was certainly the greatest challenge the British Army and Navy had ever faced. In his time Napoleon was seen the greatest threat to Europe in the 19th century as Hitler's Germany was to the 20th century. His storming conquests across the whole of Europe seemed unstoppable. But Britain and her Allies combined to halt his insatiable desire to vanquish all who defied his dastardly attempt to rule the Western World. During this volatile time the great British Cavalry regiments formed the Army's fearsome offensive phalanx, and their courage, audacity and effectiveness were [and still are] legendary.  read more

Code: 22418

🎅🏻AN AMAZING CHRISTMAS HALF PRICE, BELOW COST, ANCIENT SAMURAI SWORD KATANA. Signed, Hizen kuni Dewa no kami Yukihiro Circa 1670 Made For the Nabeshima Clan

For the benefit of our regulars, a very special Christmas thank you, a special one-off offer for our regulars, or, maybe a very lucky new visitor.
A special Christmas offer of a fabulous, signed, samurai katana of the Nabeshima clan lords.

All original Edo fittings to compliment the blade. A sword made circa 1670, with fine iron Higo school mounts with pure gold inlaid Imperial chrysanthemum mon to the fushi and kashira. Round iron Edo tsuba. Original Edo period urushi lacquer saya.

Yukihiro was a swordsmith of Hizen province, and as we believe this sword was made by him around 1670, he was making his swords for the Nebeshima at this time, so we believe it is very likely this was created intially for one of that family clan.
He was the Second son of Hashimoto Yoshinobu.
Yukihiro acquired the title of Dewa Daijo in 1648 and was ranked up to Dewa (No) Kami in 1663.
He travelled to Nagasaki to learn under Hisatsugu and Tanenaga who were highly informed about western steels brought to Japan by the Dutch. Yukihiro also studied Bizen-den style under the swordsmith that belonged to the Ishido School and sometimes added the character Ichi to his signature. Later he became a retained swordsmith of the Nabeshima family and lived in Nagase town. He passed away in 1683, aged 66. The clan controlled Saga Domain from the late Sengoku period through the Edo period.

The Nabeshima clan was a cadet branch of the Shoni clan and was descended from the Fujiwara clan. In the late 12th century, Fujiwara no Sukeyori, a descendant of Fujiwara no Hidesato in the 9th generation, received the title of Dazai Shoni (equivalent to that of vice-governor of the military government of Kyushu) from Shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo, and the title became the family name.

The clan played an important role in the region as early as the Muromachi period, when it helped suppress opposition to the Ashikaga shogunate's control of Kyushu. It did not take the name Nabeshima, however, until the late 15th century, when Sh?ni Shigenao established himself at Nabeshima in Hizen province (today part of Saga City, Saga prefecture). Later, in the Sengoku period (1467-1603), the Nabeshima were one of a number of clans which clashed over the island. The Nabeshima sided with the Ryuzoji clan against the Otomo clan, though this ultimately ended in failure and the death of Ryuzoji Takanobu at the 1584 battle of Okita Nawate. Several years later, however, the Nabeshima recovered power and prominence by aiding Toyotomi Hideyoshi in his 1587 invasion of Kyushu; Nabeshima Naoshige was granted the region of Saga as his fief, as a reward for his efforts. Naoshige also contributed to Hideyoshi's invasions of Korea in the 1590s.

The clan initially aided Ishida Mitsunari against Tokugawa Ieyasu in the Sekigahara Campaign in 1600. However, they switched sides to support the Tokugawa, who were ultimately victorious, before the campaign had ended, battling and occupying the forces of Tachibana Muneshige, who was thus prevented from contributing directly to the battle of Sekigahara. Though regarded as tozama daimyo ("outside" lords), and assigned particularly heavy corvee duties, the Nabeshima were allowed to keep their territory in Saga, and in fact had their kokudaka increased. The clan's forces served the new Tokugawa shogunate loyally in the years which followed; they remained in Kyushu during the 1615 Osaka Campaign as a check against a possible rebellion or uprising by the Shimazu clan, and aided in the suppression of the Shimabara Rebellion of 1637. In recognition of their service, members of the clan were granted the prestigious family honorific name of Matsudaira in 1648, Matsudaira being the original Tokugawa family name, the ruling Shogun of Japan for almost 300 years. 29.75 inch blade from tsuba to tip. Overall 39 inches long in saya. No p/x or layaway available on discounted items.  read more

Code: 19598

PRICE DROP AN AMAZING CHRISTMAS SPECIAL 50% OFF A Very Rare US Civil War 'C.Howard' Rimfire Long Gun with Underlever Action

Only the second we have seen in the past 10 years.
The Howard-Whitney Thunderbolt. This is undoubtedly one of the scarcest patent action guns made in the 1860's used in the American Civil War. .44 Cal Rimfire cartridge. There are elements of similarity in this rifle to the profile of Jean Baptiste Revol's of New Orleans patent breech loading rifle of 1853. In America around this time all manner of new gun actions and mechanisms were being created, in order to utilize the latest breech loading cartridges that had been designed to replace the outdated percussion muzzle loading system. This rifle, although not in pristine condition, and showing an overall russet finish, is a mighty rare gun and a must for collectors of rare patented long guns from this incredible era. For it was this very time, when no one new for certain which way the new cartridges could be made to function to their best advantage, that probably the most significant weapons were being created, and those systems and actions were to mould the whole industry of arms production even until today. Great and legendary gunsmiths, such as Henry who sold out to Winchester, were striving to create the best, most efficient, and indeed most marketable methods to evolve the rifle into the next level of development and progress, and this is likely one of those that simply failed to make the grade. This gun is one of only 2000 Mr. C. Howard's patent guns ever made, including the examples made under contract by Whitney Arms of Conn. USA. Made from the 1862 patent by Howard from the Civil War and by Whitney from 1866 to 1870. Most examples are marked by Whitney but just a few earlier examples were completely unmarked, and this is one of those. Some came to England in the late 19th century some after the war, so although a very rare gun, it is far rarer here in the UK. As with all our antique guns no license is required as they are all unrestricted antique collectables  read more

Code: 22921

A Wonderful 500 Year Old Koto Period Samurai 'Dragon' Wakizashi Samurai Short Sword, Another Absolute Beauty From Our latest collection

Based entirely around the legendary Japanese dragon, Bearing the dragon on all of its fittings and mounts including its kozuka utility knife. All of the fittings are original Edo period, of very nice quality the dragon tsuba is iron with gold highlights, of a chiselled takebori dragon signed by a very good tsuba maker, Kinai.

One has to bear in mind this tanto has been used by numerous samurai over more than a dozen generations, since the era, in England, when King Henry the VIIIth was a child.

The tsuka is superb and has its original, beautiful mid blue silk binding, that is patterned damask silk with a clan mon design theme. It is a very rare, and most infrequently seen form of deluxe quality tsuka-ito, that is wrapped over black samegawa giant ray-skin, over the gold dragon menuki. The fuchi is fine Soten school, of a pure gold decor takebori dragon, over a shakudo Nanak o ground. The kashira is hand carved and polished black buffalo horn.

The saya has its incredible Edo period urushi lacquer in a stippled ishime stone finish. and within its saya pocket is the kozuka utility knife, with a sinchu handle, decorated with a takebori carved sea dragon in crashing waves, the saya bears a shakudo mount of a deep and crisp, rare type takebori mythical flying sea dragon with a fishtail. The blade is in super and beautiful polish, showing a delightful light notare, based on suguha, hamon.

The original Edo period urushi lacquer on the saya is in simply excellent condition for age and shows most elegant patterning, it reveals within that intricacy the finest craftsmanship and beauty worthy of a master of the art of urushi decor. Japanese lacquer, or urushi, is a transformative and highly prized material that has traced it origins, and been refined, for over several thousands of years.

Cherished for its infinite versatility, urushi is a distinctive art form that has spread across all facets of Japanese culture from the tea ceremony to the saya scabbards of samurai swords

Japanese artists created their own style and perfected the art of decorated lacquerware during the 8th century. Japanese lacquer skills reached its peak as early as the twelfth century, at the end of the Heian period (794-1185). This skill was passed on from father to son and from master to apprentice.

The varnish used in Japanese lacquer is made from the sap of the urushi tree, also known as the lacquer tree or the Japanese varnish tree (Rhus vernacifera), which mainly grows in Japan and China, as well as Southeast Asia. Japanese lacquer, 漆 urushi, is made from the sap of the lacquer tree. The tree must be tapped carefully, as in its raw form the liquid is poisonous to the touch, and even breathing in the fumes can be dangerous. But people in Japan have been working with this material for many millennia, so there has been time to refine the technique!

Flowing from incisions made in the bark, the sap, or raw lacquer is a viscous greyish-white juice. The harvesting of the resin can only be done in very small quantities.
Three to five years after being harvested, the resin is treated to make an extremely resistant, honey-textured lacquer. After filtering, homogenization and dehydration, the sap becomes transparent and can be tinted in black, red, yellow, green or brown.  read more

Code: 24556

A Fine Japanese Shinto Aikuchi Tanto, Made Over 240 to 300 Years Ago, During the Edo Period, With Old Edo Silvered Fittings & A Very Fine And Beautiful Blade

An extremely sophisticated and elegant tanto, of stunning simplicity. With silvered twin kogai

The kogai is actually two pieces ("warikogai") that can be used as chopsticks. The tsuka bound in thin strands of beleen. It has a hammered chequered pattern pure gold foiled covered habaki, blade collar.
The beautiful blade has a very fine deep, gunome undulating hamon. it has gilt chrysanthemum mekugi ana roundels.

All the original fittings are Edo period, as is the urushi lacquer saya. Japanese lacquer, or urushi, is a transformative and highly prized material that has been refined for over 7000 years.

Cherished for its infinite versatility, urushi is a distinctive art form that has spread across all facets of Japanese culture from the tea ceremony to the saya scabbards of samurai swords

Japanese artists created their own style and perfected the art of decorated lacquerware during the 8th century. Japanese lacquer skills reached its peak as early as the twelfth century, at the end of the Heian period (794-1185). This skill was passed on from father to son and from master to apprentice.

Some provinces of Japan were famous for their contribution to this art: the province of Edo (later Tokyo), for example, produced the most beautiful lacquered pieces from the 17th to the 18th centuries. Lords and shoguns privately employed lacquerers to produce decorated samurai sword saya and also ceremonial and decorative objects for their homes and palaces

The samurai tanto is commonly referred to as a knife or dagger, although in technical Japanese terms it is still a sword, however short. The blades of tanto can be single or double edged with a length between 15 and 30 cm (6-12 inches, in Japanese the length of 11.8 inches is called 1 shaku).

The tanto was designed primarily as a stabbing weapon, but the edge can be used for slashing as well. Tanto are generally forged in hira-zukuri style (without ridgeline) as is this one, meaning that their sides have no ridge line and are nearly flat, unlike the shinogi-zukuri structure of a katana. Some tanto have particularly thick cross-sections for armour-piercing duty, and are called yoroi toshi.

A very small gold foil area of the habaki now lacking. The old urushi lacquer on the saya has very small old contemporary wear marks etc.

Overall 12.5 inches long, blade around 8 inches long  read more

Code: 22202

A Most Exotic & Impressive Indian Double Bladed Short Sword. This Actual Rare Short Sword or Long Dagger Was Featured Within The Lyle Arms and Armour Review Exactly 40 Years Ago in 1983

A previous specialist collector acquired this uniquely intriguing piece exactly 40 years ago from a world famous specialist auction, and allowed its inclusion in the annual Lyle Antiques Review book for inclusion.
This amazing piece is most reminiscent of the Indian double bladed bichwa, an assassins dagger from the old Mughal era, although this example is much bigger than a similar twin blades bichwa

Its twin serpent blades have twin fullers, a cast silvered-brass hilt, decorated with ornate designs.

To use such an extravagant weapon one would have had to have been very skilled and highly trained in its use, for the potential for the holder to do harm to his self must have been quite great.

It is so unusual that many today have never seen a surviving example like it before, and thus assumed that no example, or even a record of them, any longer existed. Incredibly, however, just recently we have found how that assumption was entirely mistaken. When we had acquired the dagger, the last previous owner mentioned to us this actual piece was photographed, and described, forty years ago, when it was published in 1983, within a highly respected reference book of fine arms, The Lyle Official Arms and Armour Review for 1983, {on page 34.}. But he had lost his original copy.
We then decided to trace a copy, and we were fortunately quickly successful. Within the book It is indeed listed, and photographed, and was described, complete with its auction sale price, {310 Dollars} at that time, as follows;

"Rare Indian U shaped double thrusting dagger, slightly waved bi-fullered double edged blades with squared ricassos, chisseled silvered brass grip with flowers and foliage".

We show a photograph in the gallery of its entry, photograph and listing with price, within the book. It also clearly shows what a sound financial investment this particular piece had become over the passing four decades.

It is a very attractive collectors item, likely 19th century, and without doubt a remarkable conversation piece. One Indian weaponry specialist once remarked he has seen a similar example once before in a museum in Delhi. It was within a one piece twin blade scabbard mounted upon an armoured horse’s parade saddle, with a display of a seated warrior upon the horse, adorned in a full suite of gold inlaid Mughal parade armour. It was, in his opinion, a short sword, to be used by a warrior while held in his left hand, when in combat if dismounted on foot, with a tulwar sword held in his right hand. A weapon effective as much as for intimidation as for function.

17.5 inches long overall.  read more

Code: 22521

British Army CWC W10 Watch. Formerly From A British Tank Regiment, 'Tanker' Serviceman. Excellent Quality Service Issue Timepiece, Iraq War Era Issue

With original military strap. New battery fitted and time checked. Beneath the 12 o’clock triangle marker is the encircled CWC insignia, and below that, is the encircled ‘T’ marker, which was the British military way to denote that the dial uses luminous material containing tritium. Government Broad Arrow inspection stamp. Service code, followed by ‘6645’ representing ‘Time Measuring Instrument’ and ‘99’ referring to the UK Nato country code, & Serial number with batch date, 1997

The CWC, or Cabot Watch and Clock Co. saw its inception in 1972 by Ray Mellor. Mellor got his start in the watch industry working for Hamilton to set up a retail distribution network in the United Kingdom. He would build on that opportunity and become the managing director for Hamilton UK, as well as spearheading the development of government contracts with the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

The CWC name actually gets its inspiration from the famed explorer John Cabot, an Italian explorer, known for his notable voyage from Bristol to the continent of North America in the late 1400’s.

Between 1972 and 1980, Mellor secured additional contracts under the CWC brand with the MoD and provided the Royal military with the W10, their tonneau shaped field watch and their asymmetric chronograph pilots watch, which would be issued to the RAF, as well as BBC war correspondents. In 1980.  read more

Code: 25067