Pocket Watches · Watch
Gold and crystal watch, signed 'Cha: Clay, London, 1197', England, ca. 1730-9
- Maker / attribution
- Charles Clay (watchmaker)
- Date
- ca. 1730-1739
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- England
- Object type
- Watch
- Materials / technique
- Gold and rock crystal
- Dimensions
- Height: 4.9 cm; Width: 4.6 cm; Depth: 2.3 cm
- Holding institution
- Victoria and Albert Museum, London
- Accession / object no.
- 4299-1857
Record summary
Held and catalogued by Victoria and Albert Museum, London (object number 4299-1857), this is a watch by Charles Clay, made in England, dated ca. 1730-1739. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Pocket Watches collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: Gold and rock crystal. Recorded dimensions: Height: 4.9 cm; Width: 4.6 cm; Depth: 2.3 cm. The record is illustrated with 4 photographs.
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
V&A — Physical description
Gold and crystal watch, signed 'Cha: Clay, London, 1197'
V&A — Object history
A similar watch by Clay, movement number 1201, with rock crystal case, was sold by Antiquorum, Hong Kong, 17 June 1994, lot 321. Charles Clay was a machine watch maker who, according to his will dated 18 January 1739, came originally from Emley, near Huddersfield, West Riding, Yorkshire. In February 1716 he petitioned Parliament for a patent for a repeating and musical watch. The patent was disputed by Daniel Quare and although the Attorney General reported in favour of Mr Clay, the Clockmakers' Company defended their distinguished former Master, Quare. The case was fought for over a year and the patent was finally not granted. Clay took a shop south of St Mary-Le Strand, London, in 1720 and by 1723 was appointed Clockmaker to His Majesty's Board of Works, a position he held until at least 1737. Clay's obituary appeared in The Gentleman's Magazine, Vol. X, 1740 'Feb.25. The ingenious Mr.Clay, Maker of several Musical Clocks. Three Days before he dy'd he order'd a Musical Machine, which has cost him about 20 Years Time, and upwards of 2000 l. to bring to Perfection, to be beat to Pieces, and entirely destroy'd, to prevent further Expence of the Time and Money of any one who should attempt to finish it after his Death.' For a plaque from Clay's unfinished musical clock 'The Temple and Oracle of Apollo' see M.29-2009.
Inscriptions & marks
'Cha: Clay, London, 1197'
Historical context
Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
Huygens' pendulum and balance spring transform accuracy; English makers develop the anchor and deadbeat escapements.
The balance spring (c. 1675) improved watches dramatically and introduced the minute hand. English pair-cased verge watches with pierced balance cocks and French oignons were typical; enamel painting at Blois and Geneva, and the repeating watch (1680s), made watches objects of great refinement.
Read the period in the timelineMore pocket watches from this periodEarlier: Renaissance Horology
Atlas type guide
Pocket watches
The pocket watch was the dominant personal timekeeper from the late seventeenth century until the First World War. Its development tracks the history of the escapement: verge watches with fusees until the late eighteenth century; Thomas Mudge's lever escapement (c. 1755) and the cylinder escapement popularised by George Graham and later by Swiss makers; and the Swiss and English lever watches of the nineteenth century. Lépine's bar-bridge calibre and keyless winding made watches thinner and easier to use.
Industrialisation transformed the trade: American factories such as Waltham (from 1850) and Elgin produced interchangeable parts by machine, and Swiss makers responded with their own mechanisation after the 1876 Philadelphia Exhibition. By 1900 a reliable watch was affordable to millions; the finest makers continued to produce complications and precision watches.
What to look for
- The escapement: verge (crown wheel), cylinder, duplex, English or Swiss lever.
- Key winding (a square arbor in dial or back) or keyless crown winding.
- Signatures and serial numbers on the movement, dial and inside case back.
- Hallmarks, case maker's marks and gold or silver standards stamped in the case.
- Dial material: enamel, silver, gold, later printed metal.
Dating clues
- Verge watches dominate before c. 1800; cylinder watches c. 1770–1900; lever watches after c. 1820.
- Keyless winding: increasingly common after c. 1860.
- Manufacturer serial number lists exist for Waltham, Elgin, Longines, Omega, Patek Philippe and others.
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.
Read next:Verge escapementDetached lever escapementFuseeIdentification Centre
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