Pocket Watches · Repeating watch
Repeating watch, movement by Francis Perigal, England, probably c. 1770
- Maker / attribution
- Francis Perigal (movement); or Francis Perigal Jr. (Maker)
- Date
- probably c. 1770
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- British, London, for Turkish market
- Object type
- Repeating watch
- Materials / technique
- Case: partly enameled gold; Dial: white enamel with black numerals and silver hands set with diamonds; Movement: gilded brass and partly blued steel
- Dimensions
- Overall (with bail raised, confirmed): 2 1/2 × 1 9/16 × 7/8 in. (6.4 × 4 × 2.3 cm)
- Holding institution
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
- Accession / object no.
- 17.190.1427
- Credit line
- Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
- Catalogue title (original)
- Repeating watch
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Record summary
Held and catalogued by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (object number 17.190.1427), this is a repeating watch by Francis Perigal, made in British, London, for Turkish market, England, dated probably c. 1770. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Pocket Watches collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: Case: partly enameled gold; Dial: white enamel with black numerals and silver hands set with diamonds; Movement: gilded brass and partly blued steel. Recorded dimensions: Overall (with bail raised, confirmed): 2 1/2 × 1 9/16 × 7/8 in. (6.4 × 4 × 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
The source record does not include a narrative description. The structured fields above are reproduced from it.
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
Repeating watches
Before electric light, telling the time in the dark was a real problem. Repeating watches strike the time on demand when a slide or push-piece is operated: quarter repeaters sound hours and quarters, minute repeaters hours, quarters and minutes. Edward Barlow and Daniel Quare disputed the invention in London in the 1680s. Early repeaters struck on a bell inside the case; Abraham-Louis Breguet introduced the gong (a coiled steel wire) around 1780, allowing thinner watches.
Repeaters require a separate train with racks, snails and a governor to control the striking speed, and are among the most demanding complications to make and adjust. Swiss makers of the Vallée de Joux specialised in repeating ébauches in the nineteenth century.
What to look for
- A slide on the case band or a push-piece through the pendant.
- Gongs encircling the movement (after c. 1780) or a bell in the case (earlier); pierced case for sound.
- The racks, snails and governor visible under the dial or on the movement.
- Terms such as 'Minutes', 'Quarts' or 'Répétition' on the dial or cuvette.
Dating clues
- Bell-striking quarter repeaters: c. 1690–1800.
- Gong repeaters and dumb repeaters (striking on the case): after c. 1780.
- Minute repeaters became more common after c. 1830 with Vallée de Joux ébauches.
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:Minute repeater
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