English verge fusee

[Michael Goldman]

Anyone help decipher this watch. I checked a hallmark site but I don't quite get it. I read this as sterling silver,Birmingham, 1797. Am I even close?

 

[Omexa]

Hi, it looks like the Case Winding hole has been altered? Regards Ray

 

[Michael Goldman]

For sure. Someone put a cover over it.

 

[Keith R...]

Your either 1797 or 1823, don't see a leopard with or without crown. I could be wrong but
you appear to have a transition regulator, part Tompion and part Bosley, but your regulating
arm is missing. (Note opposite side of Tompion disk is the Bosley scale, but your reg arm is
missing).

Keith R...

 

[novicetimekeeper]

By design 1823 seems the more likely doesn't it? It is a Birmingham mark so no leopards involved.

 

[John Matthews]

Michael

I believe the hallmarks on the case are for 1823/24 and the case maker is Vale and Rotheram (no 'h') of Coventry. The makers mark V·R was registered at the Birmingham office on 6 Feb 1822, Samuel Vale and John Rotheram operated a company out of Spon Lane which was a forerunner of the company Rotherhams - with the 'h'. The movement may also have been made by the same company. I suspect Edmunds was the retailer and not the maker.

John

 

[gmorse]

Hi Michael,

John is quite right about the hallmarks. The presence of a cover over the winding hole doesn't necessarily imply a replaced case, but much more likely that the outer case of the pair is missing and the cover is just an expedient to keep the dust out. Edmunds would indeed have been the retailer who ordered the complete watch from Vale & Rotheram. Interestingly, there are faint hints of a Liverpool influence in the markings on the regulator scale and the flower motifs on the balance cock, but there was some movement of craftsmen between Liverpool and Coventry.

Without removing the balance cock it's very hard to see what's going on with the regulator pointer, which is, as Keith says, a transitional design which provides another clue to the later date.

Regards,

Graham

 

[Michael Goldman]

Thank you all. Great info. This is my first English pocket watch. I'm usually an American pocket watch guy. It was advertised to me as late 1700's but early 1800's still makes it the oldest I own. I came across it at a flea market in New Hampshire, USA.