This prolific Liverpool maker (not to be confused with J. Johnstone who has been mentioned recently) has been discussed several times here, but information about Johnson watches remains rather scarce. One problem is that a very high proportion of the movements are in American cases, non-original cases or no cases at all, so that the dating information for hallmarks is worthless if it exists at all. Another is that the serial numbers are not straightforward. I have lost much of the information about these which I collected some ten years ago, but I do remember that the numbers seem to have taken a step backwards in about 1830, possibly at the time when the old type of balance-cock (quite wide, with a 'fish-tail' foot that stops short of the edge of the plate) gave way to the parallel-sided pattern which was copied in Aaron Dennison's earliest designs.
All this is by way of introduction to my new Johnson watch, a seventeen-jewel English-lever fusee with the serial number 15488. As so often, the case (hallmarked Chester 1855) is irrelevant. It fits well, but there are clear signs of modification; among others, the keyhole has been roughly enlarged and an extra slot has been cut for the hack-lever. My guess is that the movement is a few years older, perhaps late 1840s; I say this, tentatively, because there are signs that Messrs. Johnson had already adopted the smaller recessed seconds dial before 1850, although of course it is possible that they offered both types concurrently.
The engraved motif on the cock is a little out of the ordinary. At first I thought it was an attempt at an American eagle (many Johnson watches went to the States, and this one came to me from Virginia) or perhaps the mythical 'Liver Bird' which symbolised the town of origin. However, the head looks more like that of a dragon or wyvern, and there is a suggestion of a most un-bird-like tail at bottom right. Moreover, there seems to be a heraldic 'torse' ( a wreath made up of two strands twisted together) below the figure, suggesting that it is the 'crest' from a coat of arms. I should be interested to know if anyone has seen a cock similarly adorned, and I should also welcome any further clues to the date.
Oliver Mundy.
All this is by way of introduction to my new Johnson watch, a seventeen-jewel English-lever fusee with the serial number 15488. As so often, the case (hallmarked Chester 1855) is irrelevant. It fits well, but there are clear signs of modification; among others, the keyhole has been roughly enlarged and an extra slot has been cut for the hack-lever. My guess is that the movement is a few years older, perhaps late 1840s; I say this, tentatively, because there are signs that Messrs. Johnson had already adopted the smaller recessed seconds dial before 1850, although of course it is possible that they offered both types concurrently.
The engraved motif on the cock is a little out of the ordinary. At first I thought it was an attempt at an American eagle (many Johnson watches went to the States, and this one came to me from Virginia) or perhaps the mythical 'Liver Bird' which symbolised the town of origin. However, the head looks more like that of a dragon or wyvern, and there is a suggestion of a most un-bird-like tail at bottom right. Moreover, there seems to be a heraldic 'torse' ( a wreath made up of two strands twisted together) below the figure, suggesting that it is the 'crest' from a coat of arms. I should be interested to know if anyone has seen a cock similarly adorned, and I should also welcome any further clues to the date.
Oliver Mundy.
