Thomas Tompion & Edward Banger, No. 218. A gilt quarter repeating pair-cased pocket watch, London, circa 1705 and later
replaced white enamel dial, the movement with gilt-brass plates, three Egyptian pillars and two baluster pillars (one gilt-brass and one blued steel), chain fusee with verge escapement, three arm balance, the balance cock and foot finely pierced and engraved with foliate scrolls, standard quarter repeating (originally on a bell but now dumb), signed and numbered on the backplate T Tompion, E Banger, 218 , the later gilt inner case with shuttered winding aperture, the outer case with piqué decoration over shagreen, 5cm. 2in. diameterThomas Tompion, the most highly respected English clockmaker, was born at Ickwell Green, Bedfordshire in 1639. He moved to London and joined the Clockmakers’ Company as a Free Brother in 1671. In 1674 he set up his workshop at the sign of The Dial and Three Crowns in Water Lane, on the corner of Fleet Street, and shortly afterwards met Dr. Robert Hooke, the leading physicist and mathematician of his day. Through Dr. Hooke, Tompion came to the notice of Charles II and from this time held an unrivalled position in English horology. He devised a numbering system for his clocks and watches between 1680 and 1685 which was continued after his death, in 1713, by his successor George Graham.Edward Banger was born in Somerset in 1668 and was apprenticed to Thomas Tompion, through Joseph Ashby, in 1687. Banger married Tompion’s niece, Margaret Kent, in December 1694 and completed his apprenticeship to become Free of the Clockmakers’ Company in July 1695. Edward Banger was clearly a talented maker and in around 1700/1701, Tompion took him into partnership, both of their names then appearing on their clock and watches. The partnership continued until 1707 or 1708 but then, for an unknown reason, it was suddenly terminated. Banger left Tompion’s business and although he continued in the trade, very little is known of him until he died intestate in 1719. He was 55 years old. Whatever the reason for the spilt, it was clearly acrimonious as Tompion left a legacy to his niece, Margaret, in his will, stipulating that Edward Banger was to have no claim on the inheritance. The repeating watch was far more complicated than a standard timepiece and consequently significantly more expensive. Known standard watches during the Tompion Banger partnership range in serial number from 3122 to 4119, a production of 997 watches. During the same period, known serial numbers of repeating watches range from 186 to 311, a production of 125 watches. Number 218 is previously un-recorded and despite alterations to the dial and case, remains a remarkable and rare example of a repeating watch from the golden age of British watch and clockmaking.
