Many children that ran off to the front and became “children of the regiment” took part in World War I. They helped the soldiers and participated in reconnaissance missions. There were heroes among them who were granted St. George awards, but many of them died, and only their relatives preserved their memory.

One of these teenagers, who was unknown until recently, was a 16-year-old participant in the First World War, Alexander Shishkin. He was born in 1900 and studied at the school of soldiers’ children of the reserve battalion of the Semyonovsky Life-Guards Regiment. The reserve battalion, quartered in Petrograd, was preparing to replenish the regiment and leave for the front. Schools of soldiers’ children attached to Guards regiments were open even in peacetime. The first ones were established under Peter I, but since the late 19th century, the school of the Semyonovsky Life-Guards Regiment trained mainly singers and musicians for the regimental choir.

Judging by the engraved inscription on the watch, it was presented to Alexander Shishkin on April 9, 1916 — apparently in honor of his school graduation. The company “F. Winter” produced high quality watches. Most likely, the watch was made in 1914–1916, as the case features the address “Petrograd, Nevsky, 78” (St. Petersburg was renamed Petrograd in 1914).

It was initially believed that the gold monogram on the lid belonged to Shishkin himself, however, this is not the case. Above the monogram is a trace of an overlay resembling a noble crown. It is evident that Shishkin, who studied at the school of soldiers’ children, was not a nobleman. Most likely, a watch of such quality and with such an inscription could have been presented to him by one of the officers. The Semyonovsky Regiment was one of the oldest regiments of the Russian Guard and was made up of aristocrats.

It was quite difficult for specialists to determine the initials of the owner of the monogram: one letter was considered to be a “P”, and the second one could be a stylized letter “M” or a double “P”, which was common in the design of monograms of that time. After an analysis of the lists and positions of the officers, it was determined that Pavel Vladimirovich Pukarev (Pukharev) served in the reserve battalion of the Semyonovsky Regiment. By 1917 he became the head of the school of soldiers’ children.

Friedrich Winter first came to the Russian Empire in 1856. He founded his own watch company. After his death, the company produced watches under the brand “Otto Häfeli, formerly Friedrich Winter”. By that time, it was making clocks for towers and train stations, as well as high-quality pocket watches, including for the military department. The company’s customers were wealthy people.