English Fusee

[namvet69]

Hello gentleman. This is a John Forrest PW I bought yesterday as a fusee. However as I was looking at the movement I could see no fusee or chain. It looks like a fusee and winds like a fusee (counter clockwise) but I see no fusee or chain. The case seems to be Birmingham, 1901. I have seen a John Forrest 1902 that was a fusee but can not see it in this one. This might seem stupid to some of you but how do learn if you don't ask? It's a nice watch and keeps great time for the age.
This was the best I could do with this camera.
Does anyone know?

 

[watchbob]

It's not a fusee - I've had these marked reverse pinion. Some even marked John Forest & etc like your watch. I guess made to seem like an old fashion fusee. Mainspring barrel simply is geared into another barrel like wheel. This is what I've seen in my experience.

 

[doug sinclair]

I think you have one of those transitional models in which the great wheel became an idler gear which meshed with the usual mainspring barrel which now had gear teeth added. The idler meshes with the centre wheel pinion. These are fairly common twoard the latter part of the 19th century and the early part of the 20th century. The date letter on yours seems to support that. Unless you really wanted a fusee type, I consider this version to be more reliable, and easier to work on.

 

[Burkhard Rasch]

Hi namvet69
as others stated this is not a fusee.By the end of the 19th cent.even conservative english watchmakers abandoned the fusee and chain mechanism due to high production cost,some earlier,others later.The "modern" going barrel had proved to be as exact as the complicated and sensitive chain and fusee design without the risc of chain breakage.But the English were used to wind their watches counterclockwise,while the use of a going barrel would lead to clockwise winding.So they introduced a "reversing wheel" in the space occupied by the fusee earlier.This had a ratio of 1/1 to the going barrel ,not changing the gear ratio of the whole mvmt.The english production of their old fashioned full plate design mvmts.ended after WW I.Despite of not having a fusee it´s a good quality and reliable watch!Congrats!
Burkhard