Lot 379

John Roger Arnold, London, Movement No. 3783, 51 mm, 129 g, circa 1817
A rare, early precision pocket watch made by John Roger Arnold
Case: 18k gold, tiered, polished, case maker's punch mark "TH" (Thomas Hardy). Dial: enamel, radial Roman numerals, auxiliary seconds, signed, numbered "3783", gold spade hands. Movm.: full plate movement, keywind, firegilt, signed, chain/fusee, stone cylinder escapement, three-arm steel balance, engraved regulator scale and long blued index hand with fixed bimetallic temperature compensation slat.
John Roger Arnold (1769-1843)
John Roger Arnold was the son of renowned British horologist John Arnold. He began his apprenticeship with A.-L. Breguet in Paris in 1792. The younger Arnold became a member of the Clockmaker's Company in 1796 and was a Master in 1817. He took up a partnership with E.J. Dent in 1830 and the two craftsmen experimented heavily during their work together; in particular they concentrated on the effects of magnetism on chronometers. Dent left Arnold in 1840, whereupon Arnold continued working on his own but died only three years later. Charles Frodsham bought the business after Arnold's death in February 1843 and it flourished until 1858 under the name Arnold and Frodsham.

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