ANTIQUE Of THE month
In her collectibles column, antiques expert Judith Miller charts the evolution of the pocket watch
Fine examples of craftsmanship and engineering, pocket watches were as much symbols of taste and wealth as portable timepieces, and were passed down through families. The first pocket watches, made during the second half of the 16th century, were powered by a three-wheel train, a fusee, and a verge escapement. By the beginning of the 1600s, the familiar four-wheel train was introduced. Watches of this early date have only one hand – this was typical until the late 17th century. British mid-17thcentury watches are usually either plain or decorated with simple engraving, while Continental watches often had beautifully painted enamel cases. By the late 17th century, Britain was producing the finest and most innovative watches. A feature before c.1720 is the champlevé dial, made of metal inlaid with black wax; later, enamelled dials became popular. In this era, watches were the preserve of the wealthy, but during the second half of the 18th century they became more accessible. The general construction of the watch did not change until the start of the 19th century, when makers in Europe began to produce slimmer designs. Decorative, enamelled cases are often a feature of watches of c.1800; some had novelty cases in the shape of violins, beetles, pistols, and snuff-boxes. During the mid-19th century the keyless pocket watch with winding as an inbuilt mechanism was introduced, and by the 1870s most were keyless. Watches became slimmer and different types were introduced, the most common being open-faced, half-hunting-cased, and hunting-cased.
During the 19th century the two main types of escapement were the cylinder and the lever. Toward the end of the century, however, a variety of special features were added to more standard watches, including repeating mechanisms that sounded the hours, quarter hours, and sometimes also the minutes, calendar work, chronograph (stopwatch) mechanisms, and moonphases. Such watches typify the high-quality Swiss work of the 19th century and are highly collectable.