DESCRIPTION:
EPW - Joshua Hewlett, Bristol, verge fusee, 50mm, gilt OF original pair cases, outer with shagreen and piqué finish, white enamel dial, KWKS (key not included with this lot), verge escapement, gilt mvt with pierced and foliate scrolled balance cock with grotesque mask at neck, s#152. A very attractive mid-18th century shagreen cased verge fusee. Brian Loomes' "Watchmakers and Clockmakers of the World" notes Joshua Hewlett of Bristol as being active by 1741, free of the Clockmakers' Company in 1748, and died in 1764.
CONDITION:
Mvt: NR, fully wound, balance will tick if reverse pressure is added to fusee, overhaul needed, excellent cosmetic mvt condition overall, excellent gilt tone, short scratches adjacent pillar at signature, few small scratches and fine scratches elsewhere; excellent hands, hour with some areas of mild oxide and finish loss, minute is not seating sufficiently low to allow access to square for key setting; outer case shows light wear, few pinpoint nicks, no dents or dings, losses to gilt finish, rear shagreen nearly fully intact with few small perimeter splits at upper-left, bezel shagreen with split near 11:30, rear and bezel both with some scattered missing piqué elements, button latch good, case with some gap to its upper portion when closed; inner case shows little wear, no dents, some gilt loss to bezel between 6:30 and 8:30, few lesser areas of gilt loss elsewhere; bow pivots freely; domed glass crystal with few short fine scratches.
ESTIMATE:
$500
-
$1000
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