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Pocket Watches · Pocket watch

Pocket watch, England, c. 1825

DocumentedDocumented from the holding institution's catalogue record.
Maker / attribution
Unrecorded in source
Date
c. 1825
Country of origin
England
Place
London
Object type
Pocket watch
Dimensions
Höhe: 6.40 cm, Breite: 5.20 cm, Tiefe: 2.10 cm
Holding institution
German Clock Museum
Accession / object no.
1998-040 (inventory number) 56134 (technical number)
Credit line
German Clock Museum
Catalogue title (original)
Taschenuhr, George Prior, London, um 1825 (German)

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Record summary

Held and catalogued by German Clock Museum (object number 1998-040 (inventory number) 56134 (technical number)), this is a pocket watch, made in London, England, dated c. 1825. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Pocket Watches collection. Recorded dimensions: Höhe: 6.40 cm, Breite: 5.20 cm, Tiefe: 2.10 cm. 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

Catalogue description from German Clock Museum

Taschenuhr für den osmanischen Markt mit doppeltem Übergehäuse, George Prior, London, um 1825. (Deutsches Uhrenmuseum Furtwangen)

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 An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.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

Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)

Harrison solves longitude; Mudge invents the lever; Breguet's Paris workshop defines the modern watch.

From 1750 to 1850 the watch became a precision instrument. Mudge's lever escapement, the cylinder escapement, Lépine's thin bar calibre, Breguet's innovations (overcoil, tourbillon, perpétuelle) and the pocket chronometer of Arnold and Earnshaw all date from this period, while verge watches remained common in cheaper production.

Read the period in the timelineMore pocket watches from this periodEarlier: Early Modern Horology

Atlas type guide

Watches for the Chinese and Ottoman markets

From the late eighteenth century English and Swiss makers produced watches specifically for export to China and the Ottoman Empire. For China, Fleurier houses such as Bovet, Juvet and Vrard made matching pairs of watches with richly engraved and decorated movements, often with the duplex escapement whose centre seconds hand jumps in full seconds. For Ottoman buyers, London makers such as George Prior and Markwick Markham supplied verge watches with Turkish numerals in triple or quadruple cases of tortoiseshell and silver.

These watches reflect global trade networks and the tastes of distant markets, and are important evidence for cross-cultural exchange in horology.

What to look for

  • Engraved, fully decorated movements visible under a glass back.
  • Duplex escapement with a jumping centre seconds hand.
  • Chinese characters on the movement (e.g. the maker's name in transliteration).
  • Turkish (Ottoman) numerals on the dial and multiple protective outer cases.

Dating clues

  • Chinese-market Fleurier watches: c. 1820–1900.
  • English Ottoman-market watches: c. 1770–1850.

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 escapement

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