About this lot

Description

c1898, the unsigned silver coloured dial, 48mm diameter, with applied gold coloured Roman numerals, blued spade hands, subsidiary seconds register and dot minute track, signed front loading key wind mechanical fusée movement number 83073 with engraved balance cock, the top plate additionally engraved 'Chronometer maker to the Admiralty London', under a signed and numbered brass dust cover, case, 53mm diameter with Chester hallmarks for Sterling silver, sides and verso lavishly decorated with foliate and scroll engraved decoration around a vacant escutcheon shaped cartouche within a gold coloured belt, gross weight 138.9g and presented with the winding key

Footnote: John Forrest was a clock and watchmaker based in the Midlands and was active between 1857 - 1871. Following his death, his name was used by a number of watchmakers in the Coventry area of England, almost as a trademark, and this watch is one of these examples. Forrest himself seems to have had an interesting reputation. He signed himself 'Chronometer maker to the Admiralty', however 20 years after his death there was a court case calling into question the use of this term and challenging subsequent makers who used the name "Forrest". It was alleged that he would make a new watch from time to time and send it to the Admiralty as a free sample, thereby, in Forrest's eyes, justifying his claim as a supplier. However, there is little evidence that he ever made any chronometer timepieces at all, nor is there any evidence that the Admiralty ever actually purchased any of Forrest's watches.

Back to lot listings