Pocket Watches · Pocket watch
Silver Thomas Tompion pair case verge pocket watch, 1710
- Maker / attribution
- Thomas Tompion (maker)
- Date
- 1710
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- England
- Object type
- Pocket watch
- Materials / technique
- silver
- Dimensions
- Case 56 mm
- Stock no.
- G2331
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Somlo Antiques (G2331)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Silver Thomas Tompion pair case verge pocket watch. Made 1710 (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Somlo Antiques (dealer), London (stock number G2331), this is a pocket watch by Thomas Tompion, made in England, dated 1710. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Pocket Watches collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: silver. Recorded dimensions: Case 56 mm. The record is illustrated with 5 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
Dealer description — Somlo Antiques
Thomas Tompion (born in 1639) was widely regarded as one of England’s greatest watchmakers. Initially trained as a blacksmith, he later turned to clock and watchmaking, where he achieved remarkable success. Renowned for both his skill and productivity, Tompion earned the patronage of many members of the nobility. Brand: Tompion Made: 1710 Model: Pocketwatch Reference: N/A Calibre: - Movement: G ilt full plate fusée verge, winged balance cock pierced and engraved with foliate scrolls and mask, large Egyptian pillars, silvered regulation, steel three-arm balance Material: Silver Features/complications: Signed dial and movement, Case stamped WS (William Sherwood) Dial: Silver champlevé dial featuring Roman numerals and Arabic outer minute chapter with steel beetle and poker hands Case dimensions: 56mm Bracelet/strap: N/A Accessories: - SKU: 2331
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
Verge and pair-cased watches
After Christiaan Huygens and Robert Hooke applied the balance spring around 1675, the verge watch became a reasonably reliable timekeeper and the minute hand became standard. Through the eighteenth century the typical English watch was a pair-cased verge: a fusee movement with a pierced, engraved balance cock, housed in an inner case and a separate protective outer case, often of repoussé gold, shagreen, tortoiseshell or enamel.
French watches of the same period were thicker 'oignons', later replaced by elegant thinner watches following Jean-Antoine Lépine's bar-bridge calibre of c. 1770. Dutch, Swiss and German makers supplied international markets, and verge watches were made until the mid-nineteenth century as cheaper alternatives to the cylinder and lever.
What to look for
- The pierced balance cock on the backplate: winged (continental) or with a foot (English); its style dates the watch.
- Fusee and chain visible through the movement; key winding through the dial (early) or case back.
- Hallmarks inside English silver or gold cases, which give a date letter.
- Maker's name and serial number engraved on the backplate; watch papers inside outer cases.
- Enamel dials (after c. 1720) versus earlier champlevé metal dials.
Dating clues
- Champlevé dials: c. 1680–1730; white enamel dials thereafter.
- English case hallmarks give the year of assay to within a year.
- Verge watches persisted in cheap production until c. 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.
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