Features, Styles and Types
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| The genuine watches sold by McCabe are of high quality and
remarkably consistent in their features. In addition to the watches displayed
at their shop they also made many that were commissioned by their first owners.
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| Movements signed
"James" almost always have diamond endstones to the balance,
including early verge examples which was not common with other makers. Almost
without exception (apart from verge escapements) they have endstones fitted to
the escape wheel pinions. Watches with seconds hands also have jewels to the
dial side seconds arbor. For the most part all other pivots have plain brass
bushes, including the pivots of the lever. James McCabe senior may have been
influenced in this by research carried out which suggested that brass pivots
had the advantage of longevity which outweighed the slightly lower friction
offered by jewelling. The watches all used fusee and chain with the exception
late repeating watches and the Lepine calibre examples used around1830. The
movements for these were almost certainly supplied as semi-finished ebauches
not yet fitted with escapements or balance. Most watches were wound from the
rear and set by the front cannon pinion. Apart from pocket chronometers plain
balances with flat hairsprings were used almost universally on timepieces until
the 1870's. The first bi-metallic balance seen (other than on a spring detent)
is a on duplex of 1824. Unusually most of examples examined have steel posts to
the minute wheel and later examples have steel minute wheel pinions. It is
probably that all watches after about 1830 had dust protectors fitted to the
fusee square as so many of the examples retain this easily lost piece. |
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| Typical
Verge movement from the early 19th Century |
Dials were mostly enamel,
but gold and silver were also used. Until 1830 dials fitted to the watches were
again varied, some domed but mainly flat. After this the style changed little
almost all being flat with subsidiary seconds and Roman numerals. One feature
to note about the enamel dials is that sunk subsidiary seconds do not appear to
have been used (with the exception of very late keyless repeaters). In early
watches McCabe appears to favour either serpentine or arrow head hands,
predominantly in gold. From the late 1820s delicate fleur-de-lys style hands
appear to have been used almost exclusively.
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Typical
dial and hands of a mid 19th Century lever
Click pictures for larger images |
| Cases of most types were
used consistent with the period of the watch. Apart from early examples silver
or gold was used, and on occasions the gold cases were enamelled. A significant
amount of trade was done with India where they had an agent in Pondicherry. The
watches produced for that market being somewhat more decorative. |
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