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Swiss manufacture for the Indian market, circa 1930s–1940s. An open-face pocket watch with its original signed white enamel dial printed "WEST END WATCH CO." and "AFTAB", a subsidiary seconds register, stylised Arabic numerals with an outer red 24-hour chapter ring, blued steel hands, a stem-wound crown, and a plain white-metal case. The watch survives in an untouched state of preservation, retaining the original patina and evidence of long use expected of an object valued principally for its historical provenance. Accompanied by its later green fabric storage pouch.

Diameter: approximately 1.6 in (4.1 cm).

"EVERY MINUTE COUNTS": Gandhi's Personal Gift of Time to Anand Hingorani

A historically significant Swiss-made pocket watch retailed by West End Watch Co. and personally gifted by Mahatma Gandhi to his close disciple and associate Anand T Hingorani, this timepiece occupies a distinctive place at the intersection of Gandhian history, colonial Indian material culture and early twentieth-century horology. Pocket watches personally presented by Gandhi are exceedingly rare, and examples preserved with an unbroken family provenance are rarer still.

Signed "WEST END WATCH CO / AFTAB", the watch belongs to the celebrated line of West End timepieces produced for the Indian and wider South Asian markets during the late colonial period. Founded in 1886, West End Watch Co. became one of the leading Swiss manufacturers serving British India, the Middle East and Central Asia, supplying dependable watches to railway employees, military officers, administrators, merchants and the expanding civilian market.

The present watch features a white enamel dial with Arabic numerals, a chemin-de-fer minute track, a subsidiary seconds register at six o'clock and blued steel hands housed in a utilitarian open-face base-metal case. Its design exemplifies the durable watches produced during the 1930s and 1940s for practical use. The visible wear, oxidation and surface ageing are consistent with prolonged handling over many decades.

The model designation "AFTAB" is itself noteworthy. West End frequently assigned evocative names to watches produced for the Indian and Middle Eastern markets, and surviving examples bearing these named dials are recognised as important examples of Swiss export horology from the colonial period.

Presented to Anand Hingorani, one of Gandhi's closest associates and later an important custodian of his writings, the watch embodies values that Gandhi sought to cultivate throughout his life—discipline, accountability and purposeful action. Within his philosophy, objects of daily use often carried an ethical meaning beyond their practical function, making the gift of a watch especially resonant.

At once a Swiss export timepiece, a significant object in the history of horology in British India and a deeply personal Gandhian relic, the present lot preserves a rare connection to Gandhi's inner circle. More than a measure of time, it stands as a lasting reminder of the trust Gandhi placed in Anand Hingorani and of the discipline that shaped his life.

This lot will be shipped in "as is" condition. For further details, please refer to the images of individual lots as a reference for the condition of each lot.

Swiss manufacture for the Indian market, circa 1930s–1940s. An open-face pocket watch with its original signed white enamel dial printed "WEST END WATCH CO." and "AFTAB", a subsidiary seconds register, stylised Arabic numerals with an outer red 24-hour chapter ring, blued steel hands, a stem-wound crown, and a plain white-metal case. The watch survives in an untouched state of preservation, retaining the original patina and evidence of long use expected of an object valued principally for its historical provenance. Accompanied by its later green fabric storage pouch.

Diameter: approximately 1.6 in (4.1 cm).

"EVERY MINUTE COUNTS": Gandhi's Personal Gift of Time to Anand Hingorani

A historically significant Swiss-made pocket watch retailed by West End Watch Co. and personally gifted by Mahatma Gandhi to his close disciple and associate Anand T Hingorani, this timepiece occupies a distinctive place at the intersection of Gandhian history, colonial Indian material culture and early twentieth-century horology. Pocket watches personally presented by Gandhi are exceedingly rare, and examples preserved with an unbroken family provenance are rarer still.

Signed "WEST END WATCH CO / AFTAB", the watch belongs to the celebrated line of West End timepieces produced for the Indian and wider South Asian markets during the late colonial period. Founded in 1886, West End Watch Co. became one of the leading Swiss manufacturers serving British India, the Middle East and Central Asia, supplying dependable watches to railway employees, military officers, administrators, merchants and the expanding civilian market.

The present watch features a white enamel dial with Arabic numerals, a chemin-de-fer minute track, a subsidiary seconds register at six o'clock and blued steel hands housed in a utilitarian open-face base-metal case. Its design exemplifies the durable watches produced during the 1930s and 1940s for practical use. The visible wear, oxidation and surface ageing are consistent with prolonged handling over many decades.

The model designation "AFTAB" is itself noteworthy. West End frequently assigned evocative names to watches produced for the Indian and Middle Eastern markets, and surviving examples bearing these named dials are recognised as important examples of Swiss export horology from the colonial period.

Presented to Anand Hingorani, one of Gandhi's closest associates and later an important custodian of his writings, the watch embodies values that Gandhi sought to cultivate throughout his life—discipline, accountability and purposeful action. Within his philosophy, objects of daily use often carried an ethical meaning beyond their practical function, making the gift of a watch especially resonant.

At once a Swiss export timepiece, a significant object in the history of horology in British India and a deeply personal Gandhian relic, the present lot preserves a rare connection to Gandhi's inner circle. More than a measure of time, it stands as a lasting reminder of the trust Gandhi placed in Anand Hingorani and of the discipline that shaped his life.

This lot will be shipped in "as is" condition. For further details, please refer to the images of individual lots as a reference for the condition of each lot.