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A certain Monsieur Charpie created the company in the second half of the 19th century to import pocket watches to India. Initially there was no name on the face but after the creation of the International Bureau for the protection of Intellectual property he decided to add a Helvetia figure (as she appeared on Swiss coins); this proved a disaster as Muslims cannot accept reproductions of the human form so, in a panic, he ordered replacement dials bearing the word West End Watch Company (because he always stayed in, and appreciated, the West End on his visits to London.) There were two sales centres - Bombay and Calcutta.
Today West End belongs to a Swiss movement company - Monnat & Charmillot -and they are trying to rebuild the brand, with a collection of well priced Swiss mechanical watches with the distinctive West End look. It seems that although the brand has changed hands a couple of times ownership has been pretty seamless and generally by a Swiss family firm, apart from the 3 years in the possession of a Chinese calculator manufacturer. It also seems that the watches were never actually bought and issued by HM Government, but British troops bought them in vast quantities. This electric West End Watch contains the Landeron 4750 movement. Note: For details on the use of modern batteries in Landeron 4750/4760 based watches, please see the relevant page in the Landeron section of this site.
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