Rare 16th Century German Pocket Watch to Sell
Wilson 55 are delighted to offer a rare, intricate - and still running - pocket watch dating to the late 16th century. At nearly 450 years old, this remarkable pocket watch is a fantastic token of horological history. Consigned on one of our free auction valuation appointments, this wonderful piece has been consigned from a local Cheshire family, however traces its roots all the way back to Germany in the late 1500s.
A rare 16th century German tambour cased stackfreed striking pocket watch, circa 1550-70.
The silver dial with vari-coloured translucent enamel depicting stylised foliage springing from an urn and bird, with roman numeral markers, touch-pins and inner chapter ring, replacement blued steel single hand, verge escapement with dumb-bell balance and hog's bristle regulator, stackfreed spring, roller and cam, maker's marks MS, encased within a brass gilt pierced case with hinged covers and hook fitting, loose fitting ring, finial to base and pierced foliate border, case diameter 67mm. With key.
Early Watch-Making in Germany
Although the contemporary mind jumps to Switzerland, and more specifically the Jura Mountains as the centre of watchmaking, France, Germany and even England were leaders in the innovation and evolution of the early pocket watch.
The main centres in Germany for watchmaking at the time were Augsburg, Munich, and Nuremburg. Indeed, one of the earliest references to a watch appears in 1511 where Johannes Cocclaeus refers to the work of Peter Henlein of Nuremburg who "gained renown through the small watch works which he was the first to make in the form of musk-balls." In the form of portable clocks, musk-ball, drum, and tambour shaped watches made of gilded brass were most commonly made.
These impressive watches were not worn in the pocket, but suspended from a cord or a chain, worn around the neck as a symbol of wealth and social standing. This 16th century portrait (circa 1558-60) housed in the Science Museum Collection by Tommaso Manzuoli shows a Renaissance Man, displaying "an early depiction of a 16th century watch (not a tableclock)...an unidentified man holds a German, drum-shaped watch with chapters marked I to XII in Roman on an outer ring and 13 to 24 in Arabic numerals on an inner ring. The hinged, pierced cover of the gilt metal case is open. A looped tape passes through the pendant for suspension of the watch round the neck."
Image credit: Science Museum / Science & Society Picture Library
German watchmaking was comparatively short lived however, the Thirty Years War of 1618-48 depleted much of their prowess, and the vigorous French Industry at this point took the lead in propelling the innovation of pocket watches further. Although produced in a relatively short span and now pushing five hundred years in age, remarkably, a handful of these 16th century pocket watches produced in Germany survive, likely owing to their construction in gilt metal and brass. Examples housed in the British Museum and Ashmolean Museum exist with which we can draw direct comparables to our own pocket watch, and draw out typical 'features' and mechanisms.
Item no. 1958,1201.2203 in the British Museum bears an identical maker's mark to our present example, and another pocket watch in the collection, cited by Camerer Cuss, bears a distinctively similar enamel decoration to the dial, pierced and engraved case, and stackfreed movement, as below:
The Camerer Cuss Book of Antique Watches, T. A. Camerer Cuss, 1976. pg. 53, plate 7.
16th Century German Pocket Watch Features:
- Touch-pins - A common feature of 16th century watch dials, in the form of raised pins to each hour marker, with the longest at 12. These were to provide a point of reference, especially in the dark or in candlelight.
- Enamelling to dial - The watch features stylised foliage springing from an urn and bird in vari-coloured translucent enamel, this is an early example of enamel work applied to watches.
- A single hand, the dial with hour and half-hour divisions. The hand on our example is a replacement, the original hand would have been 'stout and steel.'
- Glass was not yet introduced, and so the cover with windows for the markers served as a protective and practical feature to display the time without opening the cover.
- Piercing around the edge of the case and back cover, to account for a striking mechanism.
- Arabic figure 2 in 16th Century German watches is nearly always formed like a 'Z' as seen in the balance wheel below.
The Stackfreed Movement
The stackfreed movement was preferential for 16th century German watchmakers, owing to their relatively streamlined profile. The stackfreed movements had a running time of around 26 hours. The stackfreed movement featured a verge escapement with dumb-bell balance, hog's bristle regulator and the stackfreed spring. Germanic watches of the era that had a dumb-bell balance, seen in motion in the image above. A relatively fragile and exposed part of the movement, this is a surviving example of a dumb-bell balance.
The Maker 'MS,' whilst unidentified was clearly a fine watchmaker, with two examples of his work housed in the British Museum (item nos. 1958,1201.3166, and most notably 1958,1201.2203). Listed as active by the British Museum from 1560 onwards, MS likely worked in the latter half of the 16th century, in the cutting-edge of horology creating these innovative timepieces.
For further information on this lot, or for a free, confidential and up-to-date valuation of your own watch collection, contact our specialist Liz Bailey MA FGA DGA CPAA via liz.bailey@wilson55.com.
References:
Keeping in Touch with Time - Oliver Cooke, 2014 - Antiquarian Horological Society https://www.ahsoc.org/blog/keeping-in-touch-with-time/
British Museum - item no. 1958,1201.2203.
British Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers, Cecil Clutton. pg. 40-1 plates 23, 24
https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-4795920
The Camerer Cuss Book of Antique Watches, T. A. Camerer Cuss, 1976. pg. 51-53, plates 5-7.
Image credit: Science Museum / Science & Society Picture Library
With thanks to Adrian Hailwood, The Watch Scholar
