Lot 292

Mich(ael) Johnson, London, 59 mm, 162 g, circa 1690
An important and rare silver pair-cased verge pocket watch with unique tortoiseshell piqué and mother-of-pearl case
Case: outer case - silver/tortoiseshell piqué/ mother-of-pearl. Inner case - silver, polished. Dial: silver, champlevé. Movm.: fine full plate movement, chain/fusee, three-arm steel balance.
The silver outer case is elaborately decorated in a foliate and shell motif with exquisitely engraved silver applications and tortoiseshell piqué ornamentation with mother-of-pearl intarsia. The champlevé dial has a central cartouche that is embossed and engraved with the Lion Rampant on the left and the Unicorn on the right.
An impressive watch. The decorative work on the outer case is unusually extravagant and is in extremely fine condition. Mother of pearl is a delicate material, seldom used on watch cases. It is very rare to find cases employing this technique in reasonable order, this one has survived almost undamaged.