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| Index No. A8237 | Japanese Inro Verge Clockwatch |
| A very rare early 19th Century Japanese made verge clockwatch in a rosewood inro case. Gilt keywind fusee movement with rectangular plates. Large delicate plain three arm balance at right angles to the train on top of the movement and below a small bell. Going barrel for the striking train which sounds both hours and half hours. Engraved back with the large gilt countwheel and blue steel pawl ad gathering pallet. Cloisonne enamel mask to the gilt dial with twelve engraved adjustable rectangular markers for the hours and a further twelve divisions for the half hours. Fixed pierced blue steel hand, the hour and half hour markers revolving past it. Rosewood inro case with gilt floral decoration, glazed aperture to reveal the dial and two winding holes for the time and striking trains. Brass key in a compartment in the lid under a sliding cover. | ||
| Anonymous | Japanese | |
| Circa | 1800 | |
| Dimensions | 55 x 33 x 80 mm | ||
| A very rare Japanese manufactured watch, the first inro clockwatch we have encountered. The Japanese method of telling the time originated in China and was based on the natural day from dawn to dusk. Day and night were each divided into six segments of differing length. The day segments, for example, were longer in summer and shorter in winter. For this reason the hour markers had to be adjustable. The dial begins with the number "9" and goes backwards 9,8,7,6,5,4, because the Japanese considered that 9 was a magic number. It was desirable to have the mystical number present in every hour, as well as to directly attribute it to midnight and noon. The other hours were multiplied by the number 9 and the second digit of the product was taken as the clock hour for example, hour 2 was in fact 8 because 2 x 9 = 18. Traditional Japanese hours were named after the Chinese zodiacal signs, midnight bottom of the dial being "rat", midday top of the dial "horse", sunrise to the left "hare", sunset to the right "cock", and so on. |
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