Silver pair-cased verge watch with alarm

Description — British Museum

Movement frame: Circular gilt-brass plates with four twist pillars. Engraved decoration around the verge aperture. Mainspring & set-up: Gilt-brass barrel with snap-in cap and riveted steel hook. Tangent-screw set-up with cut steel brackets and a decoratively turned worm gear. The silver index engraved 1-6. Fusee & stop-work: Gilt-brass fusee with chain and English stop-work. Train: Gilt-brass train of three wheels, the second and contrate wheels with three crossings. Escapement & balance: Verge escapement, the crown wheel runs between riveted potence and counter-potence. Verge with an unusual six spoked balance wheel which oscillates beneath a pierced and engraved balance cock with a very short foot and a table pierced with six radiating figure of eights. Alarm train: Gilt-brass fixed barrel with a pierced band, and geared stop-work. The alarm train consists of a brass great wheel, a recessed solid brass second wheel and steel contrate and crown wheels. DIAL: Gilt-brass dial plate with a silver chapter ring. Roman hours I-XII, arrow-head half-hour marks and a quarter circle. In the centre a silver and gilt-brass alarm setting disc with hours 1-11 and a pointer at 12 to show the time. The central alarm-setting hand is now missing. Cases: Silver inner case, pierced and engraved around the band with scrolling foliage, the back plain except for a central rosette. At the top of the band, a separate pinned-on rim. Plain silver glazed bezel, split at the hinge. An original bell screwed to the inside. Silver pendant with loose ring. Plain silver outer case lined with red silk. The original closing latch now replaced by a sprung catch. There is a hole at the top for the inner case pendant.