Last updated on July 20, 2025
This is an interesting brand, Audax. Until a week ago, I had never heard of the brand. However, it did catch my attention and I decided to research the brand and this particular watch, a silver Audax, dating from 1914. It took some inventive research to come up with a “sketch” of the history behind the Audax brand. In this post, we will take a look at the particular watch which sparked this research, this Audax trench watch dating from 1914.
Trench watch
A trench watch is a type of wristwatch worn by soldiers during WW1, although it was first used during the Boer Wars in the late 19th century. Pocket watches proved impractical for combat, so trench watches were designed to be both durable and reliable. They often featured water-resistant cases and luminous dials, making them suitable for the harsh conditions of trench warfare. Trench watches also came with leather or fabric straps. This allowed soldiers to easily wear and adjust them in the field (Trench watch at Wikipedia).
The Audax brand
Audax is an obscure brand with no official history surviving. According to Mikrolisk, the Audax brand was registered by Eberhard & Cie. in Switzerland in 1902. However, it wasn’t until around 1930 that the brand became more visible, though this trench watch from 1914 is obviously earlier. Audax produced mid-market mechanical wristwatches, mostly manual-wind, occasionally automatic, using reliable Swiss movements (e.g., Venus, ETA) and housed in British-made cases (notably Dennison or British Watch Cases). Marked “Swiss Made,” these watches came in a variety of dress and durable styles, some late-1950s models even carried “Waterproof” or “All Risks” (AR) labels while avoiding high-end complications like chronographs or dive tools.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Audax evolved into a sub-brand or model line of Fortis, evidenced by dials reading “AUDAX/FORTIS” and casebacks stamped “Fortis Watch Ltd.”, although corporate documentation remains elusive. By the late 1960s, with no quartz models introduced, the Audax name quietly vanished, likely discontinued by Fortis amidst the broader Swiss watch industry reorganisations that preceded the Quartz Crisis.
Movement
The manufacturer of the movement of this Audax trench watch is unknown. Audax used Swiss made movements such as Venus, Aurore and ETA (Aurore at Watch Wiki). However, this watch predates the known history of these watchmakers, and the manufacturer remains unknown. We do know that the watch contains a Swiss-made lever movement with 15 jewels and 3 adjustments. The Audax name is engraved on the movement. This was a relatively good quality movement for the time, with 15 jewels and 3 adjustments. This implies it was made to keep good time, which was typical of an officer’s watch.
Case and dial
The watch measures 33mm in diameter, excluding the winding crown and the articulated lugs. The case is solid silver and there are British hallmarks inside both of the case backs for London (import mark), 1914, together with a sponsor’s mark for the assay agent George Stockwell. The case is in very good condition.
The later acrylic crystal lens is in good condition with just a light 3mm scratch. The dial looks good to the naked eye. Under magnification, four faint hairline cracks radiating from the centre are visible. Enamel dials were made by firing ground enamel powder onto a copper plate. The front was polished before numerals and markers were painted on. In this instance, the most notable feature on the dial is the red 12. Early “red‑12” dials were a simple ergonomic aid. Early wristwatches used savonnette (hunter) movements in open‑face (Lépine) cases, which meant the “12” wasn’t where users expected it, so manufacturers picked it out in red (or sometimes blue) to draw the eye and quickly establish the top of the dial (World War I Trench Watches at AntiqueSage).
Connection to the Audax history
Most sources conclude Audax was a mid-20th-century Swiss brand active between the 1930s and 1960s. This 1914 watch predates that by 15 to 20 years. If authentic, it suggests one of two possibilities (both speculative): either the Audax name was used on some small Swiss watches earlier than previously thought, or an unrelated small watchmaker happened to use the name “Audax” decades before the known brand emerged. Although there is evidence of the Audax brand being registered in 1902, this is the only physical example pre-1930. Another possibility is a 1930s movement being fitted into an earlier case. This is all speculation. This lack of a written Audax history means we are unlikely ever to know the answer.
Summary
It is an interesting watch with an obscure history. Were we tempted to buy this timepiece? Not, really. It is a relatively unknown brand with little, if any, historical significance in the world of watchmaking. That said, it is still a nice trench watch with a high-quality movement. Someone was impressed by what they saw, because the watch was sold within days of being listed. Did they buy it because of the high-quality movement, or were they fascinated by the missing link in the Audax timeline? I doubt we will ever know.