95th Auction
2017/5/6
Lot 314
John Arnold, London, Movement No. 88, 48 mm, 117 g, circa 1763
An of museum quality pair case pocket watch with cylinder escapement
Case: 22k gold, case maker's punch mark "DC". Dial: enamel. Movm.: full plate movement, chain/fusee, three-arm brass balance.
The watch - which sits in a repousse case and is decorated with a mythological scene - was created by one of the most important English watchmakers and is illustrated and described in Hans Staeger's book on John Arnold and his successors (p. 41ff). He writes: 'This is the earliest known pocket watch by John Arnold. The only watch with square pillars. All later examples have round pillars. No apparent alterations, as on later Arnold re-worked watches. Therfore, this watch appears to be in original condition.'
John Arnold (1736-1799)
After his apprenticeship with his father in Cornwall, John Arnold settled in London in 1760. In 1764 he presented King George III with a half quarter repeating cylinder watch mounted in a ring. By the time he was 28, Arnold's watches, be they verge or cylinder, displayed interesting original components such as straight-line compensation curbs and minute repeating by increments of 10 minutes (instead of the more common 15 minutes). Around 1768 Arnold began his research into marine chronometers. He established himself at 2 Adam Street, Adelphi Buildings, Strand, in 1771 and carried out most of his research into marine chronometers here over the next eleven years. By 1774 Arnold had constructed a marine chronometer with pivoted detents; he invented terminal curves for the cylindrical balance spring in 1776 and included this construction in the patent for a bimetallic compensated balance he took out in 1782. He subsequently devised numerous different balances such as the Double T, Double S, Z, O-Z and U. Arnold, who was admitted to the Clockmakers' Company in 1783, was the first to employ the term chronometer in the modern sense and to successfully find a way to simplify Harrison's timekeeper design. In 1787 he took his son, John Roger Arnold, into partnership and changed the business name to "Arnold & Son", which it retained until his death.
An of museum quality pair case pocket watch with cylinder escapement
Case: 22k gold, case maker's punch mark "DC". Dial: enamel. Movm.: full plate movement, chain/fusee, three-arm brass balance.
The watch - which sits in a repousse case and is decorated with a mythological scene - was created by one of the most important English watchmakers and is illustrated and described in Hans Staeger's book on John Arnold and his successors (p. 41ff). He writes: 'This is the earliest known pocket watch by John Arnold. The only watch with square pillars. All later examples have round pillars. No apparent alterations, as on later Arnold re-worked watches. Therfore, this watch appears to be in original condition.'
John Arnold (1736-1799)
After his apprenticeship with his father in Cornwall, John Arnold settled in London in 1760. In 1764 he presented King George III with a half quarter repeating cylinder watch mounted in a ring. By the time he was 28, Arnold's watches, be they verge or cylinder, displayed interesting original components such as straight-line compensation curbs and minute repeating by increments of 10 minutes (instead of the more common 15 minutes). Around 1768 Arnold began his research into marine chronometers. He established himself at 2 Adam Street, Adelphi Buildings, Strand, in 1771 and carried out most of his research into marine chronometers here over the next eleven years. By 1774 Arnold had constructed a marine chronometer with pivoted detents; he invented terminal curves for the cylindrical balance spring in 1776 and included this construction in the patent for a bimetallic compensated balance he took out in 1782. He subsequently devised numerous different balances such as the Double T, Double S, Z, O-Z and U. Arnold, who was admitted to the Clockmakers' Company in 1783, was the first to employ the term chronometer in the modern sense and to successfully find a way to simplify Harrison's timekeeper design. In 1787 he took his son, John Roger Arnold, into partnership and changed the business name to "Arnold & Son", which it retained until his death.
Sold
estimated
15.000—30.000 €
Price realized
18.600 €