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A very rare silver pair cased…
Auction House:
Auction Location:
Melbourne
Date:
22-Oct-2024
Lot No.
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Description:
A very rare silver pair cased pocket watch, maker Benjamin Hill English circa 1650 5.7 cm high, 5 cm diameter. A very rare silver pair cased pocket watch, maker Benjamin Hill. English circa 1650. The watch has a silver dial centred with an English Rose that would have been filled with red wax. The double ended hour hand ensures that it can be moved easily to set the time. The watch has a verge movement with fusee and gut drive, made before the invention of the balance spring. It has a tangent screw regulator. Benjamin Hill was apprenticed to Richard Child through the Blacksmiths Company for 8 years on the 3rd July 1632 and was 'sworn a free brother' of the Clockmakers Company on 30th November 1640 and was Master of the Clockmakers Company in 1657. He died early in 1670 and was buried at St Dunstan's-in-the-West, Fleet Street, London where it appears he has been Senior Churchwarden. Represented with watches in the British Museum and Victoria and Albert Museum. Illustrated Britten, and Clutton & Daniels. Noted as a fine maker. Similar watches by Benjamin Hill are illustrated in an article by Jeremy Evans in the March 2001 volume of the A H S Journal. For an extraordinary astronomical pocket watch by this maker see Sothebys London The Celebration of the English Watch Part IV, George Daniels 20th Century Innovator. 6 July 2017 Lot 3. Dimensions: 5.7 cm high, 5 cm diameter. Provenance: The name "Puritan" merely refers to the simplicity of the watch's appearance, in character with puritan austerity. Benjamin Hill was apprenticed to Richard Child through the Blacksmiths Company for 8 years on the 3rd July 1632 and was 'sworn a free brother' of the Clockmakers Company on 30th November 1640 and was Master of the Clockmakers Company in 1657. He died early in 1670 and was buried at St Dunstan's-in-the-West, Fleet Street, London where it appears he has been Senior Churchwarden. Represented with watches in the British Museum and Victoria and Albert Museum. Illustrated Britten, and Clutton & Daniels. Noted as a fine maker. Similar watches by Benjamin Hill are illustrated in an article by Jeremy Evans in the March 2001 volume of the A H S Journal. For an extraordinary astronomical pocket watch by this maker see Sothebys London The Celebration of the English Watch Part IV, George Daniels 20th Century Innovator. 6 July 2017 Lot 3
Estimate:
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Price:
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Category:
Horology (Clocks & watches): Watches - Pocket & Fob