Pocket Watches · Watch
Watch by Williamson R., England, 1740–1760
- Maker / attribution
- Williamson R. (Horloger)
- Date
- 1740–1760
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- Londres, England
- Object type
- Watch
- Materials / technique
- diamond, gold
- Dimensions
- height 5,5 cm; width 4,8 cm; thickness 2,5 cm
- Holding institution
- Musée du Louvre, Paris
- Accession / object no.
- OA 6228
- Credit line
- Musée du Louvre, Département des Objets d'art du Moyen Age, de la Renaissance et des temps modernes
- Catalogue title (original)
- Montre ronde (French)
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Record summary
Held and catalogued by Musée du Louvre, Paris (object number OA 6228), this is a watch by Williamson R., made in Londres, England, dated 1740–1760. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Pocket Watches collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: diamond, gold. Recorded dimensions: height 5,5 cm; width 4,8 cm; thickness 2,5 cm. The record is illustrated with 6 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 — Musée du Louvre (French)
Montre ronde, surface guillochée, décor émaillé d'oiseaux et de fleurs, au centre un paon dressé devant un portique à colonnes. Sur le pourtour oiseaux perchés sur des volutes encadrant des cartouches ornés de fleurs. Sur la lunette alternance de fleurs en émail translucides et en relief. Poussoir enrichi d'un brillant. Boîtier intérieur en or gravé et ajouré de rinceaux et feuillages dans le goût rocaille. Ouverture circulaire pour le remontage du ressort-moteur, tête du pendant ornée d'une applique en forme de rosace, bélière gravée. Cadran à chiffres romains et arabes, aiguilles en or ajourées de rinceaux. Mouvement à répétition sur timbre muni d'une fusée à chaîne et d'un échappement à roue de rencontre. Talon du coq gravé d'un mascaron, partie circulaire repercée et gravée d'un décor symétrique de feuilles d'acanthe d'où se détache un oiseau perché. Piliers cylindriques.
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 An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.
Dating and period as catalogued (French)
Epoque / période : Louis XV (1715-1774) (Occident->époque moderne = Ancien Régime->dynastie des Bourbons) · · Date de création/fabrication : 1740 - 1760
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.
Materials and techniques as catalogued (French)
Matériau : diamant · Matériau : or · Technique : émaillé = émaillage = émail = émaux (techniques métal)
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.
Inscriptions & marks
Signature : ; mouvement signé : R. Williamson 5959/ London ; cache-poussière signé : R/Williamson/ London/ 5959
Provenance
collection Jean-Charles Seguin (1857-1908), Paris. Legs, J.-Ch. Seguin, 1908.
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
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:Verge escapementDetached lever escapementIdentification Centre
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