113rd Auction
2025/11/8
Lot 173
Robert Gibson
A high-quality London pocket chronometer with spring detent escapement according to Thomas Earnshaw in a gold-plated silver outer case
Sold
estimated
5.500—9.000 €
Price realized
17.500 €
specific features
Case
Outer and inner case - silver, gilt, smooth, case maker's punch mark "IN" (possibly for John Nevill of Clerkenwell).
Dial
Regulator dial, enamel, eccentric chapter ring with radial Roman hours, auxiliary seconds, gold spade hands.
Movement
Full plate movement, chain/fusee, three-arm bimetallic chronometer balance with 3 screws and 3 trapezoid weights, freesprung blued helical balance spring.
Case no.15
Diam.65 mm
Circa1794
Ctry.England
Wt.200 g
In our 91st auction, lot 546 on 15/16 May 2015, we sold the "sister" pocket chronometer, no. 16, for EUR 13,640.
According to the Transactions of the Society, Instituted at London for the Encouragement of Arts Manufactures and Commerce in 1815, Robert Gibson was an ingenious watchmaker and an excellent geometrician. He was based in Hampstead, borough Camden, London. Robert Gibson may be a brother of John Gibson of London, Sweetings Alley, who was famous for his chronometer and duplex movements. The outstanding craftsmanship and the still excellent timekeeping accuracy definitely suggest an exceptionally gifted maker.