Pocket Watches · Pocket watch
Pocket watch by William Gib Junior, 1730
- Maker / attribution
- William Gib Junior (creator)
- Date
- 1730
- 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_5226_A_C
- Catalogue title (original)
- Zakhorloge met gouden ajour buitenkast, ajour binnenkast met ingezette binnenschelp en stofkast op uurwerk, emaille wijzerplaat (Dutch)
Record summary
Held and catalogued by Museum Rotterdam (object number europeana_fashion_5226_A_C), this is a pocket watch by William Gib Junior, dated 1730. 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)
Wit email wijzerplaat met gebogen minuutband met Arabische minuutcijfers en Romeinse uurcijfers. Ajourgezaagde stalen wijzers. Het uurwerk met spillegang en repetitiemechaniek voor uren en kwartieren. Eenvoudige ronde pilaren. De achterplatine met een ajourgezaagde brug in asymmetrische ornamentiek en een dito ornament, geschroefd met geblauwde schroeven. Verzilverd 'kompas' met de cijfers 1 tot en met 6 voor de reglage en op de rand de gegraveerde signatuur. Over het uurwerkmechaniek een gepolijst stalen stofkap met gegraveerde signatuur. De ajourgezaagde binnenkast met ranken, vissen, een vogel en een maskeron. De achterzijde glad met cartouche en stervormig bladmotief. Elegant gemodelleerde pendant met gegraveerd voetje. Aan de binnenzijde een gesloten gepolijst stalen binnenschelp als klankschhal ofwel bel gemonteerd. De gouden buitenkast met op de achterzijde een hofscène, gevat in een cartouche van accolades, waarbuiten voorstellingen van de seizoenen, afgewisseld met ajourgezaagde ornamenten met vuurspuwende draken. De ajourgezaagde glasrand met seizoens-symbolen.
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 An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.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.
Read next:Detached lever escapementFuseeIdentification Centre
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