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 The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

. Since the 1950s it has concentrated on watches and is currently based in Surrey, England.

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 Wimpole Street is a street in Marylebone, central London. Located in the City of Westminster, it is associated with private medical practice and medical associations. No. 1 Wimpole Street is an example of Edwardian baroque architecture, comple ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. The

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

has a rare watch paper which places him at the virtually identical address of 72A, Wimpole Street. Although John Le Cheminant, "watchmaker and jeweller" died on 1 February 1876, the name continued, with Le Cheminant appearing in trade directories as 'watch maker' at the same address, 72a Wimpole Street, in 1884. By 1915 Le Cheminant has an address at 81

Wigmore Street Wigmore Street is a street in the City of Westminster, in the West End of London. The street runs for about 600 yards parallel and to the north of Oxford Street between Portman Square to the west and Cavendish Square to the east. It is named aft ...

, in the same London district, and was inscribing this address on its timepieces. At this time Le Cheminant was among several companies which supplied precision timepieces to the British

. In 1909 and 1915 the Royal Navy bought chronometers costing £19 and £16 10/- that saw service on and respectively. 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); , a

British L-class submarine The British L-class submarine was originally planned under the emergency war programme as an improved version of the British E-class submarine. The scale of change allowed the L class to become a separate class. The armament was increased when ...

; ''P15'', a Royal Navy patrol vessel, and . By 1923 Le Cheminant had become Le Cheminant and Co, at 97 Wigmore Street on the corner of Duke Street. Classified ads appeared frequently with this address in The Times until December 1933, offering the reassuring information in 1927 that they had been established 100 years and, in 1929, that Le Cheminant had been established in 1822, significant because this date became a strong feature of the brand in later years. By September 1957 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 Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

(17 Castle Street), Leicester (1 Odeon Arcade, Market Place) and

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

(81, The Horsefair). Among the Le Cheminant models at this time were ladies' watches with a variety of gold bracelets, 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 & Wajs Ollech & Wajs (O&W) is a watch company based in Zurich, Switzerland. History In the 1950s, Albert J. Wajs founded the company as a supplier of stainless steel bracelets. He partnered with Joseph Ollech in 1956 and expanded into the manufacture ...

and chronographs by Rotary Watches. 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 vessel pieces

Distribution and repairs

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

References

{{reflist Watch brands