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Early English Clockwatch
A mid 17th Century English verge clockwatch in gilt metal pair cases. Deep full plate fire gilt movement with five pillars, two of early Egyptian form with small gallery above and three turned pillars. Fusee and chain with worm and wheel barrel setup between the plates.Silver count wheel marked in Arabic numerals showing the last hour struck. Later pierced and engraved cock with small foot. Plain steel balance and blue steel spiral hairspring, silver regulator disc. Striking the hours in passing on a bell in the back of the case. Engraved resting barrel to the striking train and elaborately pierced and chased blue steel gates. Dial plate decoratively engraved on the back and supported by short turned feet. White enamel dial with Roman numerals, gold beetle and poker hands. Purpose made pierced and engraved gilt metal pair cases, the inner with a bell.Signed Peter Bell LondonCirca 1660£9,500.00£8,200.00 Add to cart -
Early Silver Sun and Moon Verge
A late 17th Century English verge with silver champleve sun and moon dial in silver pair cases. Deep full plate fire gilt movement with pierced tulip pillars. Fusee and chain with worm and wheel barrel setup between the plates. Pierced and engraved cock with small wings, broad pierced and engraved foot. Plain steel balance, silver regulator disc. Silver champleve dial, Arabic numerals for the minutes, blue steel poker hand. The hours are indicated by a blue steel disc set with engraved gold sun and silver moon and stars which rotates once every 24 hours. This is viewed through a semi-circular aperture, the edge marked with the hours six through twelve and back to six in Roman numerals. As the sun disappears at the right of the aperture the moon appears at the left. The lower half of the dial decoratively chased and engraved with two birds and signed in an oval cartouche. Plain silver pair cases, the outer with faint traces of gilding.
Circa 1695£8,750.00 Add to cart -
Rare Silver and Tortoiseshell Verge
A rare late 17th Century English verge in fine silver and tortoiseshell pair cases. Deep full plate fire gilt movement with elaborately pierced and engraved pillars. Fusee and chain with worm and wheel barrel setup between the plates. Pierced and engraved winged cock with mask, pierced and engraved foot. Plain steel balance, silver regulator disc. Signed silver champleve dial with Roman and Arabic numerals, blue steel beetle and poker hands. Plain silver inner case with split bezel, large central circular shutter to the winding aperture, silver pendant and stirrup bow. Fine outer case covered in tortoiseshell which is inlaid in a decorative foliate design with engraved silver and mother of pearl. The front bezel covered in tortoiseshell and similarly decorated. Silver bezels and square seven joint hinge.
An impressive watch. The decorative work on the outer case is unusually extravagant and is in extremely fine condition. Mother of pearl is a delicate material, seldom used on watch cases. It is very rare to find cases employing this technique in reasonable order, this one has survived almost undamaged. Michael Johnson London and Barnard Castle 1687 – 1704Circa 1695£39,000.00 Add to cart -
Silver Oignon with Mock Pendulum
A late 17th century French verge oignon with silver mock pendulum cock in a silver consular case. Very deep full plate fire gilt movement, slender Egyptian pillars with turned finials. Fusee and heavy chain with spring and ratchet setup between the plates, the barrel with a rim to both top and bottom. Engraved silver mock pendulum bridge cock with semi-circular aperture to reveal a steel bob on one arm of the balance. Silver regulator dial under a blue steel bridge acting on a visible blue steel rack, silver pierced and engraved decoration flanking it. Silver chased and engraved plate to protect the escapement from a broken fusee chain. Decorative pierced and engrave decoration to the foot of the case spring. Winding through the unusual white enamel dial, Arabic minute numerals, the Roman hour numerals on raised “cartouches”. Unusual silver beetle and poker hands. Plain silver consular case, seven joint square hinge, silver ring pendant and bow.
Circa 1695£4,600.00 Add to cart -
Early English Mock Pendulum Verge
A late 17th Century English verge with mock pendulum in gilt and horn pair cases. Deep full plate fire gilt movement with Egyptian pillars. Fusee and chain with worm and wheel barrel setup between the plates. Gilt winged cock with glazed aperture to reveal the blue steel pendulum bob on the balance. Pierced and engraved foot, the table engraved with instructions about regulating the watch "to increase the figure will make it goe faster & to Decrease it Slower". Engraved on the top plate below the balance the index in Roman numerals and "Slower – Faster". Unusual exposed blue steel regulator wheel. Signed silver champleve dial with Roman and Arabic numerals, blue steel hands. Purpose made gilt pair cases, the outer covered with horn.
Circa 1700£4,900.00 Add to cart -
Early Verge Pocket Watch Signed Tompion
A late 17th Century English verge signed Tompion in later silver pair cases. Deep full plate fire gilt movement with Egyptian pillars. Fusee and chain with worm and wheel barrel setup between the plates. Pierced and engraved winged cock with mask and extra screwed steady foot, pierced and engraved foot. Plain steel balance, silver regulator disc. Later white enamel dial, Arabic numerals, gilt hands. Matching silver pair cases hallmarked London 1777, maker's mark “WL”.
Although signed Tompion the number 834 would be too early for this movement. However the plate is stamped with a capital “L” which could be a code for the number of thousandsCirca 1700£4,950.00 Add to cart -
Rare Early Automaton Repeater
A rare early 18th Century English quarter repeating verge with automated champleve dial. Deep full plate fire gilt movement with turned baluster pillars. Fusee and chain with worm and wheel barrel setup between the plates. Pierced and engraved winged cock with mask, pierced and engraved foot. Plain steel balance, silver regulator disc. Push pendant quarter repeating on a bell in the case. Two polished steel hammers, engraved edge to the repeating resting barrel and deep edge to the dial plate. Silver champleve dial with Roman and Arabic numerals, blue steel beetle and poker hands. In the centre a pierced gilt representation of a bell over a blue steel ground. Either side of the bell are the engraved heads of dragons which appear to strike it when the watch is repeated. Silver inner case, pierced and engraved foliate scenes containing dragons and birds. Silver repousse outer case chased and engraved with a scene of Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruitful abundance. Pierced and engraved sections at the quarters separated by cartouches containing a dragon, fish bird of prey and a squirrel.
Jean François Poncet was a famous German watchmaker from Dresden. He was watchmaker to the duke of Saxony as well as to the king of Poland.We have not seen automaton work on the dial of a watch of this period. It pre-dates the examples found on continental quarter repeaters by almost a hundred years.Circa 1710£13,500.00 Add to cart -
Gem Set Gold Repeater with Royal Coat of Arms
An early 18th Century English quarter repeating verge with dust cover bearing Queen Anne’s Coat of Arms in fine decorative gem set gold pair cases. Deep full plate fire gilt movement, silver dust cover engraved with the Coat of Arms of Queen Anne Fusee and chain with worm and wheel barrel setup between the plates, turned baluster pillars. Pierced and engraved cock with pierced and engraved foot. Plain steel balance, gilt regulator disc. Push pendant quarter repeating striking a bell in the case, engraved repeating barrel. Signed gold champleve dial, arcaded minute ring, Roman and Arabic numerals, blue steel beetle and poker hands. 22 carat gold inner case pierced and engraved with a fine mask and depictions of monkeys in military uniforms, split bezel for the glass. Fine 22 carat gold outer case of unusual construction set with lapis lazuli, rubies emeralds and diamonds. The body of the case decorated in chased and engraved repousse work, panels in the back and bezel pierced. The stones are set in gold cages fixed inside the case and presented through cutouts in the outer. Central oval lapis lazuli stone is set in the largest cage surrounded by a border of diamonds and rubies.
Circa 1710£110,000.00 Add to cart -
Silver and Horn Champleve Dial Verge
An early 18th Century verge with calendar champleve dial in silver and horn pair cases. Deep full plate fire gilt movement with decorative pierced and engraved pillars. Fusee and chain with worm and wheel barrel setup between the plates. Pierced and engraved bridge cock, pierced and engraved plate for the silver regulator disc. Plain three arm brass balance,. Signed silver champleve dial with engraved brass edge, arcaded minute ring. Small square aperture for the date indication in the central pierced and engraved silver mask over a blue steel ground. Roman and Arabic numerals, fine gilt hands. Plain silver inner case with large central rotating shutter for the winding aperture. Silver bezels to the outer case, covered in horn and decorated with an elaborate geometric pattern of silver pique pins.
Circa 1710£6,850.00 Add to cart -
Silver Champleve Dial Calendar
An early 18th Century English verge with calendar champleve dial in silver pair cases. Deep full plate fire gilt movement with Egyptian pillars. Fusee and chain with worm and wheel barrel setup between the plates. Pierced and engraved winged cock with mask, later steel coqueret, pierced and engraved foot. Plain steel balance, silver regulator disc. Signed silver champleve dial with engraved brass edge. Small circular aperture for the gilt date indication, Roman and Arabic numerals, blue steel beetle and poker hands. Matching silver pair cases, silver pendant and stirrup bow, maker’s mark "TB", coronet above.
Circa 1710£4,300.00 Add to cart -
Display of Dial Cartouches
An unusual glazed display with burr walnut veneered frame of numeral cartouches from early 18th Century watches and clocks. Concentric circles of the white enamel cartouches taken from gilt dials are displayed in the square frame, a dial from a calendar watch taking the place of one cartouche. At the centre a blue and white enamel disc for the age of the moon, two larger versions above and below. Approximately 70 pieces in total.
Circa 1720£950.00£850.00 Add to cart -
Rare Early Verge Pocket Watch with Garden of Eden Automation
A fine and rare 18th Century English verge with automated scene in a gold consular case. Deep full plate fire gilt movement with gilt dust ring. Turned baluster pillars, fusee and chain with worm and wheel barrel setup between the plates. The winged cock and regulator plate left plain, being neither pierced or engraved. Plain gilt balance. A central stalk supports the scene and carries a wheel which is driven by another mounted on the contrate wheel arbor. Fine white enamel dial with apertures for winding and regulation of the watch. Roman and Arabic numerals, blue steel beetle and poker hands. Plain gold consular case, maker's mark “IB”. A glazed aperture on the back reveals a gold chased and engraved repousse scene depicting Eve offering Adam the apple in the Garden of Eden. A snake circles the scene as the watch runs, its support hidden under the pierced and engraved border of the dust cover.
A rare watch in excellent overall condition. Surprisingly the specially designed movement is not signed and the maker has not decorated the cock as it remains concealed under the dust ring which is secured by two screwsCirca 1730£16,500.00 Add to cart