Pocket Watches · Pocket watch
Gold & Enamel Cylinder Pocket Watch, c. 1850
- Maker / attribution
- Unrecorded in source
- Date
- c. 1850
- Historical period
- Industrial Revolution (1850 – 1900)
- Country of origin
- Unrecorded in source
- Object type
- Pocket watch
- Materials / technique
- gold, enamel
- Dealer
- WatchMuseum.org shop
- Stock no.
- Product 6207
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, WatchMuseum.org shop (product 6207)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Gold & Enamel Cylinder Pocket Watch (English)
View the source record (dealer listing) ↗ (opens another website in a new tab)Suggest a correction
Record summary
Catalogued by WatchMuseum.org shop (stock number Product 6207), this is a pocket watch, dated c. 1850. The Atlas places it in the Industrial Revolution period (1850 – 1900) of its Pocket Watches collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: gold, enamel. The record is illustrated with 3 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
Dealer description — WatchMuseum.org shop
This is a beautiful mid-19th century Swiss cylinder watch. It features a gold and enamel open face case, giving it an elegant look. The movement is a keywind gilt Lepine calibre, with a suspended going barrel. The watch has a plain cock with a polished steel regulator, as well as a plain three-arm gilt balance with a blue steel spiral hairspring. The cylinder and escape wheel are made of steel. The silver dial is adorned with decorative engravings and Roman numerals, complemented by gold hands. The open face case is made of engraved gold and features a well-painted polychrome enamel scene on the back, depicting a lady and a cupid in a chapel. It can be wound and set through the engine-turned gold cuvette. Overall, this watch is a stunning piece of craftsmanship from the mid-19th century. Place of Origin :Swiss Date of Manufacture: Circa 1850 Diameter: 41 mm Condition: Good
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
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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