Jewellery, Watches, Antiquities and Objects of Vertu

An open faced slim pocket watch, by E. Howard Watch Co., Boston, USA, the signed silvered dial with black Arabic numerals and subsidiary seconds dial, jewelled movement signed and numbered ‘11108’, polished case with engraved band signed and stamped ‘White gold, 14k’, and with presentation inscription verso, watch diameter 44mm. £550-£600

The presentation inscription to the back of the case reads:
“Presented to Lieut. Dorris Dimmock Gurley, USNR, With deepest admiration, by the officers and crew of the USNRAB, Long Beach, Calif, 22 May 1934”

Captain Dorris Dimmock Gurley joined the US Navy in 1919, retiring in 1946, as a Captain. During the 1920s he served out of the Long Beach Naval Reserve Aviation Base, and later, during World War II he commanded the Naval Air Stations at Ottumwa, Iowa and Bunker Hill, Indiana.