AN UNUSUAL AND EARLY GOLD SINGLE CASED DUMB QUARTER REPEATING CYLINDER WATCH OF SMALL SIZE
1730, NO. 603
AN UNUSUAL AND EARLY GOLD SINGLE CASED DUMB QUARTER REPEATING CYLINDER WATCH OF SMALL SIZE
1730, NO. 603 Yellow gold diameter 47.5 mm , • Movement: gilded full plate, cylinder escapement with steel wheel, balance cock pierced and engraved with foliate scrolls and a mask at the neck, diamond endstone, fusee and chain, cylindrical pillars, the hammers striking the inside of the gilt metal dust cap, dust cap signed Geo. Graham , London and scratch numbered beneath 603 • movement signed George Graham, London no. 603
• Dial: restored white enamel, Roman numerals, outer Arabic minute ring, blued steel beetle and poker hands, winding through the dial
• Case: gold single case, the back centred with a large decorative intertwined and reversed monogram EJW within a circular border, signed ram F , pulse piece to bezel at 5 o’clock, case with London hallmarks for 1730, maker’s mark IW incuse beneath a star for John Ward and numbered 603George Graham, London, Estimate
8,000 - 12,000 GBP
, AN UNUSUAL AND EARLY GOLD SINGLE CASED DUMB QUARTER REPEATING CYLINDER WATCH OF SMALL SIZE
1730, NO. 603 Yellow gold diameter 47.5 mm , • Movement: gilded full plate, cylinder escapement with steel wheel, balance cock pierced and engraved with foliate scrolls and a mask at the neck, diamond endstone, fusee and chain, cylindrical pillars, the hammers striking the inside of the gilt metal dust cap, dust cap signed Geo. Graham , London and scratch numbered beneath 603 • movement signed George Graham, London no. 603
• Dial: restored white enamel, Roman numerals, outer Arabic minute ring, blued steel beetle and poker hands, winding through the dial
• Case: gold single case, the back centred with a large decorative intertwined and reversed monogram EJW within a circular border, signed ram F , pulse piece to bezel at 5 o’clock, case with London hallmarks for 1730, maker’s mark IW incuse beneath a star for John Ward and numbered 603 , Sotheby’s, The Henry Nyburg Collection , 22 nd May 1967, lot 41, There remains some uncertainty as to when the first dumb quarter repeating watch was made. This watch clearly predates Julien Le Roy’s claim for priority of the invention and
is certainly an early example of this form of repeating work. As there is no provision in the numbered case for a bell, it is apparent that this is not a later modification.
For a note on George Graham, see lot 19.
