
Pocket Watches · Pocket watch; cylinder watch
Cylinder watch in silver case, calendar, balance under dial, R.Q., in case. Hall marked 1860
- Maker / attribution
- Unrecorded in source
- Date
- hallmarked 1860; 1850-1890
- Historical period
- Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- England, United Kingdom, England
- Object type
- Pocket watch; cylinder watch
- Dimensions
- overall: 18 mm x 51 mm x 70 mm, .08 kg
- Holding institution
- Science Museum Group, London
- Accession / object no.
- 1916-213
- Credit line
- Mr. Evan Roberts
- Catalogue title (original)
- Silver Pocket Watch with Calender, 1850-1860
Record summary
Held and catalogued by Science Museum Group, London (object number 1916-213), this is a pocket watch; cylinder watch, made in England, United Kingdom, England, dated hallmarked 1860; 1850-1890. The Atlas places it in the Industrial Revolution period (1850 – 1900) of its Pocket Watches collection. Recorded dimensions: overall: 18 mm x 51 mm x 70 mm, .08 kg. The record is illustrated with 1 photograph.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
The source record does not include a narrative description. The structured fields above are reproduced from it.
Historical context
Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)
American interchangeable-parts manufacture; railroad time standards; Swiss and German factory systems.
Machine production with interchangeable parts, pioneered by Waltham (1850s) and adopted by Elgin, Longines, Omega and others, made reliable lever watches widely affordable. Keyless winding became standard, railroad watch standards were introduced (1890s), and Swiss and American industries competed globally.
Read the period in the timelineMore pocket watches from this periodEarlier: Precision & Scientific Horology
Atlas type guide
Calendar, moon-phase and perpetual calendar watches
Calendar complications range from a simple date to the perpetual calendar, which automatically allows for months of different lengths and leap years until 2100. Pocket watches with perpetual calendars were made in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; Patek Philippe made the first perpetual calendar wristwatch in 1925, and series production followed in 1941. The annual calendar (Patek Philippe, 1996) needs correction only once a year.
Moon-phase displays use a disc with two moons and 59 teeth advanced daily, approximating the 29.5-day lunation; more precise trains reduce the error to one day in over a century.
What to look for
- Apertures or subsidiary dials for day, date, month and leap year.
- Moon disc under a 'bosom' shaped aperture.
- Recessed correctors on the case band for setting the calendar.
Dating clues
- Triple-date wristwatches: popular c. 1940–1955.
- Perpetual calendar wristwatches: from 1925 (unique) and 1941 (series).
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
Related records
Pocket Watches · 1801-1900
Pocket watch by Markwick, Markham; Perigal family, England, 1801-1900
Science Museum Group, London
Pocket Watches · 1801-1900
Pocket watch by William Ilbery, England, 1801-1900
Science Museum Group, London
Pocket Watches · 1818-1900
Pocket watch, England, 1818-1900
Science Museum Group, London
Pocket Watches · 1850-1862; hallmarked 1862
Cylinder watch in silver case by Jno. R. Arnold, London, no.3636, compensated curb, hall marked 1862
Science Museum Group, London
Pocket Watches · 1850
Pocket watches by Unidentified, England, 1850
National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC
Pocket Watches · 1850-1860
Sterling silver lever pocket watch in original case, made by Thomas & John Ollivant, Manchester, around 1851.
Science Museum Group, London
Pocket Watches · 1850
Watch movement with pumping keyless winding mechanism, by G. Waterhouse, London, England, 1845-1851.
Science Museum Group, London
Pocket Watches · 1851
Pocket watch by Watkins, Alexander, England, 1851
Science Museum Group, London