I · The Maker/II · The Object/III · The Dial/IV · The Record/V · Acquisition
Room I · The Maker
The Frodsham name belongs to a family of London and Liverpool chronometer makers active through the whole of the nineteenth century, from Parkinson & Frodsham of Change Alley to Charles Frodsham of the Strand, and it stood for the first class of English timekeeping. On this watch the name is a trade signature: the movement was made on the Continent to chronometer grade and finished and signed for the London market, as a great deal of such work was. It is not attributed here to any one Frodsham house.
The escapement of the ship's box chronometer, scaled to the pocket
The Object
A key-wound pocket chronometer signed Frodsham, London, numbered 1000: spring detent, helical spring and compensation balance, the specification of a marine chronometer in a watch to be carried.
The point of this watch is under the cock. Where a lever watch carries a flat spring, this one carries a blued steel helical spring standing on the balance staff in a small coiled column, and beneath it a spring detent that releases the escape wheel once for every swing of the balance in one direction only. Wound and set down, it does what a chronometer does: the seconds hand steps forward in halves, a distinct beat with a pause in it, and the balance, a cut bimetallic rim carrying its timing screws, swings wide and slow. It is the escapement of the ship's box chronometer, scaled to the pocket.
It was made on the Continent in the second half of the nineteenth century, in the years when the English market bought chronometer-grade movements from the Swiss workshops and had them finished and signed for London. The frosted gilt three-quarter plate, the screwed gold chatons, the long tapered cock with its Breguet-style index, and the plate signed in copperplate script, Frodsham, London, N° 1000, all belong to that trade. The regulator is engraved Fast and Slow in English, for an English hand. This watch carries the name in the form the trade used: surname, city and number.
The dial is the London style of the day, white enamel with black Roman numerals, an outer minute track and a sunk seconds ring at six. The hands are blued steel, a pear-shaped hour hand and a plain tapering minute hand, oxidised now to a deep plum. The face is bright and clean, with a single faint mark out near the 3 that reads as surface rather than damage.
The case is the one the movement was born in: an open face in white metal, 50.95mm across, with a hinged bezel, a hinged back and a cuvette pierced for the two keys, unmarked in the continental way. It shows light scratching on the back and a touch of verdigris at the bow joint, and closes as it should at bezel, back and cuvette. The pendant carries a smooth knob and an oval bow; the winding is done through the back.
The marks, the movement and the condition are set out in the drawers below.
Room III · The Dial
Reading the dial · tap a number
- 1Black Roman numeralsThe London style of the day: white enamel with black Roman numerals.
- 2Outer minute trackAn outer minute track around the chapter.
- 3Sunk seconds at sixA sunk seconds ring at six; the seconds hand steps forward in halves with the chronometer's beat.
- 4Plum blued handsBlued steel hands, a pear-shaped hour hand, oxidised now to a deep plum.
- 5One faint markThe face is bright and clean, with a single faint mark near the 3 that reads as surface rather than damage.
- 6White metal, 50.95mmAn open face in white metal, 50.95mm, unmarked in the continental way, with a hinged bezel.
Beneath the case
Open each drawer to look closer
Mark 1
Frodsham, London, N° 1000
Copperplate script signature on the three-quarter plate, identifying the London retailer or finisher, with the serial number engraved beneath the maker's signature.
signature
serial
plate
Mark 2
Fast and Slow
Regulator index engraved in English on the balance cock, for the London market.
regulator
cock
Part A
Spring detent escapement
Earnshaw-type detent releasing the escape wheel once per swing of the balance.
Part B
Helical balance spring
Blued steel coiled column standing on the balance staff, the chronometer's signature spring form.
Part C
Compensation balance
Cut bimetallic rim carrying timing screws, compensating for temperature changes.
Part D
Screwed gold chatons
Ruby jewels set in individual screwed gold cups, a marker of chronometer-grade finish.
Part E
Going barrel
Key-wound mainspring driving the train directly, without a fusée.
Case
Very good
Polished white metal open face; light surface scratches to the back, no dents; bezel, back and cuvette close correctly; light verdigris at the bow joint.
Dial
Excellent
Clean white enamel; one faint surface mark near the 3; no chips, hairlines or restoration.
Movement
Excellent
Frosted gilt plate bright, screws retaining their blue, jewels intact; spring detent and helical spring confirmed; winds, sets and runs correctly.
Crystal
Excellent
Clear, no chips or scratches.
Crown
None fitted, key-wind by original design; smooth pendant knob and oval bow, both sound.
Room IV · The Record
Signed Frodsham, London, N° 1000; detent escapement confirmed in the hand
The plate is engraved in copperplate script Frodsham, London, N° 1000, and the balance cock Fast and Slow. The escapement has been checked running: a spring detent with a blued steel helical balance spring, the seconds hand advancing in half-second steps. The case is unmarked, as continental cases for this trade were, and is original to the movement. No maker's archive covers trade-signed work of this kind.
- Maker
- Frodsham, London (trade signature)
- Model
- Spring detent pocket chronometer, No. 1000
- Origin
- Continental, made for the English market
- Date
- C.1860 to 1885
- Case
- Open face, white metal (nickel silver), unmarked, original
- Case diameter
- 50.95mm
- Movement
- Key-wind, key-set, going barrel, frosted gilt three-quarter plate
- Escapement
- Earnshaw-type spring detent
- Balance
- Cut bimetallic compensation balance with timing screws
- Balance spring
- Blued steel helical, Fast/Slow regulator
- Jewelling
- Ruby jewels in screwed gold chatons, ruby endstone
- Dial
- White enamel, Roman numerals, outer minute track, sunk subsidiary seconds
- Hands
- Blued steel, pear hour hand, oxidised to plum
- Serial
- 1000
- Box and papers
- None
The Estate Collection
Room V · Acquisition
€14.000
We’d love to discuss our passion for this piece with you.
Frodsham, London
€14.000
Enquiry
No. 1000
×