Silver Port & Starboard Navigation Lantern Earrings | Captain O.M. Watts, Albemarle Street, London | c.1950s to 1960s | Original Box | Fine

Some pieces of jewellery tell you exactly where they came from. This pair announces it on the box lid.

These are a pair of silver drop earrings modelled as miniature ship's navigation lanterns — one in deep ruby red enamel for port, the left side of a vessel, and one in rich bottle green for starboard, the right. Each lantern is a beautifully proportioned miniature of the real thing: cylindrical body, domed cap, suspension ring and screw-back fitting, all in silver, each stamped SILVER to the reverse. They are a matching pair in every sense — mirror images of the navigation lights that have guided vessels safely past one another at sea since maritime law first required them. Red to port, green to starboard: every sailor knows it, and these earrings are for the woman who knows it too.

What elevates this pair entirely is the original box in which they sit. The pale blue watered-silk lid is embossed in gold with the crest and name of Captain O.M. Watts Ltd, 49 Albemarle Street, London W.1 — one of the most celebrated nautical outfitters in Britain. Captain Oswald Martin Watts was a master mariner, nautical author and the fashionable yacht chandler of Mayfair, whose Albemarle Street showroom was the destination for serious sailors and those who simply loved the sea. Charts, instruments, clothing, books, and precisely the kind of beautifully conceived nautical gift jewellery represented by these earrings — all of it passed through those varnished double doors. Captain Watts was also the man whose representations to the BBC led directly to the introduction of coastal weather forecasts in 1965. The Albemarle Street address places this box firmly in the earlier chapter of the shop's history — before the business relocated to Dover Street — dating these earrings with confidence to the 1950s or 1960s when the Albemarle Street premises were at the height of their reputation.

Condition: Fine throughout. Both earrings are present and matching. The enamel is vivid and intact on both — no chips, cracks or losses noted. The screw-back fittings are functional on both. The silver retains good colour with honest patina consistent with age. The original box is present and retains its shape, with expected light wear to the exterior consistent with its age. A genuinely complete survivor.

About this piece: Navigation lantern jewellery has long been a favourite of those with a connection to the sea — sailors, yachtspeople, and those who love the coast. A boxed pair in silver from Captain O.M. Watts of Albemarle Street is about as good a provenance as this category gets. An exceptional gift for anyone with salt water in their veins.

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