Pocket Watches · Pocket watch
Pocket watch by William Gib, 1725
- Maker / attribution
- William Gib (creator)
- Date
- 1725
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- Unrecorded in source
- Object type
- Pocket watch
- Holding institution
- Museum Rotterdam
- Accession / object no.
- europeana_fashion_76354
- Catalogue title (original)
- Zakhorloge met zilveren wijzerplaat en gouden wijzer (Dutch)
Record summary
Held and catalogued by Museum Rotterdam (object number europeana_fashion_76354), this is a pocket watch by William Gib, dated 1725. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Pocket Watches collection. 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
Catalogue description from Museum Rotterdam (Dutch)
Wijzerplaat. Zilver in champlevé techniek. Romeinse uurcijfers en Arabische minuutcijfers. Cirkelvormige minuutband met aangifte van de halkwartieren met een puntje. In het centrum in een dubbele cartouche de signatuur. Opengewerkte messing uurwijzer; minuutwijzer ontbreekt. Het uurwerk met spillegang met snek. Vier brede kunstig opengewerkte pilaren tussen de platines. Opengewerkte steun voor de stuiting van de snek, geblauwd stalen veer voor de kastsluiting met geornamenteerde voet. Op de achterplatine een opengewerkt ornament dat het zogenoemde kompas vasthoudt. Dit verzilverde schijfje met gegraveerde cijfers van 1 tot en met 6 is bevestigd op een stift (regulage). Een opengewerkte, symmetrisch geornamenteerde kloof met een schelp aan de voet, met een asymmetrisch geornamenteerde voet, bevestigd met een geblauwd stalen gekraagde schroef. Terzijde van de kloof de signatuur. Het geheel in een enkele gladde zilveren kast met pandant. Merken.
Shown in the original language of the source catalogue. An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.
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.
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