Any information on R. F. Cowderoy?

[ZackBortolot]

Hello! I recently purchased an English lever watch in a matching 18k hunter case. The movement appears to be very well made, and is signed "R. F. Cowderoy, 27 Charrington Street, Euston Road, London". Both the movement and case are numbered 3285. The case has "C & F" stamped on it and British 18k marks in three locations (a crown with an 18 below it), but there are no other hallmarks. The movement dust cover is stamped either LB or IB. Can any of you possibly give me any information about R. F. Cowderoy? Also, is it safe to assume that the watch was made for export since it does not have a date or assay office hallmark? Many thanks in advance for any information!

[ZackBortolot]

Hello! I recently purchased an English lever watch in a matching 18k hunter case. The movement appears to be very well made, and is signed "R. F. Cowderoy, 27 Charrington Street, Euston Road, London". Both the movement and case are numbered 3285. The case has "C & F" stamped on it and British 18k marks in three locations (a crown with an 18 below it), but there are no other hallmarks. The movement dust cover is stamped either LB or IB. Can any of you possibly give me any information about R. F. Cowderoy? Also, is it safe to assume that the watch was made for export since it does not have a date or assay office hallmark? Many thanks in advance for any information!

[doug sinclair]

Zack,

My guess would be that the case was not made in the UK. To the best of my knowledge, the usual marks would have been applied to an item for export.

Richard F. Cowderoy is listed in Loomes as working in London, 1857-63. Baillie says almost the same thing, but adds that there is a fine lever watch in the Chamb. (?) coll(ection), N. Y. University. Britten, same thing, only he is listed as a watch & chronometer wholesaler. This would imply to me that he was not a watchmaker, and that the watch could possibly be Swiss, and exported directly from Switzerland to the importing country. Interesting speculation.

I suppose it could also be and English-made movement marked with his name, exported as movement only. Or, an English case that simply didn't get stamped.

Doug S.

[beta21]

Hej,
Britten lists two R.F. Cowderoys. Your would probably be the one described "1853-64;27 Carrington st NW; watch & chronom. wholesaler". According to this he probably wasn't the maker of the watch.

Peter

Didn't type as fast as Doug, it seems!

[ZackBortolot]

Doug and Peter,

Thanks for your quick responses! I'm a bit surprised that the watch appears to be from around 1860 rather than the 1880s like I was guessing. The seller said that he purchsed the watch in the U.S. a number of years ago, which raises the possibility that it could have been used during the U. S. Civil War.

Doug's suggestion about the watch being made in Switzerland is intriguing. Did the Swiss make any high end full plate watches back then? Most of the Swiss watches I have seen from the period have used bar movements. Also, I'll have to try to do a bit more research on the hallmark to find out whether it really is British like I had assumed.

Thanks again!

Zack

[Greg Frauenhoff]

Zack,

FWIW, the Chamberlain collection Cowderoy is described as "English lever by 'R. F. Cowderoy, 27 Charington St., New Road, London, No. 3355" in the 1921 book on his collection.

Greg Frauenhoff

My Watch Site (http://hometown.aol.com/gfrauen10/gfrauen10.html)

[Maurice Richesson]

Hi Zack,

I have a nice R F Cowderoy movement with the
number 2925. It is totally English and rather
well finished. Runs like a champ.
I also found another mvt with the number 3921.
In addition to 27 Charrington St it has Euston
Road. It is also English and well finished.

Maurice

[ZackBortolot]

Maurice and Greg,

Thanks for the info! One thing that strikes me is that even though the company seems to have distributed a very small number of watches (based on the serial numbers and dates of operation), a fair number of them seem to still be around after 140+ years. I'm not really looking for a project at the moment, but creating a list matching serial numbers to movement styles would probably be interesting and doable.

Zack