II The British Commodity & Its Competitors

        
Fig 3. Fine early English 2 hand verge and fusee silver pair case antique pocket watch with personalized dial by Colston, London circa 1700.

Fig. 4 Fine and scarce Dent 18K gold minute repeater antique pocket watch circa 1867.

In late 17^th century Britain, a housemaid gives an account of her master’s pocket watch- the silent thing in a small case is described to be an instrument of the Devil and she views her master as a bearer of black magic. People were undoubtedly familiar with church bells and house clocks, but this little box was, in its silence, quite alarming. The public, so the plebeians inasmuch as aristocrats, were given the time via a number of daily spaces including the night watchman's cry of the hour, or clocks hanging from beds or chimneys, but the main regulators of society where above all the striking of a bell from a church or a turret clock in a town square. 


At the turn of the 18^th century and while the urban scene began to grow, the British bourgeois society developed interest in the time-keeping qualities of their watches rather than the elegance of their presentation. In fifty years, the new techniques of accuracy and reliability granted British watches a reputation that “no other watch was thought to be worth having!” 


Featured in this section is an early British watch (Fig. 3) at its 18th century peak. Having two hands, made in silver and personalized with the owners name on the dial, this watch was of the highest luxury items at the time, even within watch making world. It most likely functioned with the verge escapement, one of the earlier forms of escapement, which caused the timepiece to be thicker. 


The invention of the British Marine chronometer in 1714, a timekeeping mechanism that allowed navigators to translate accurate time into space while resisting the rocking of a boat, established that chronometric mechanisms in general were a symbol of national pride and identity in the British society. From this point onwards, the pursuit for finer time measurement evolved with intensifying speed, for international competition was exponentially felt. By early 19^th century watches circulated throughout countries, there were even specialized watches to regulate soldiers’ march, a watch that told time by giving a little tap, and incorporated alarms and chronometers. It is safe to say that at this point, pocket watches were present throughout the bourgeois society.


In 1860, the first cheap and reliable watch, selling for 20 francs ($150-200), was created by a Swiss inventor G.F. Roskopf. By this time the Swiss had taken the lead on watchmaking, and since then have been the masters of watchmaking expertise. The end of 19^th century, the clock and watch industry was larger than firearm diffusion, men from every social class have seen or owned one, and were, furthermore, a necessity. Trickling down to the working class, a pocket watch (most often stolen) was more valuable than their most expensive waistcoat, cloak or gown and were their most reliable assets, most precious items. 


The highly personalized English watch (Fig. 4) is noted to chime the exact hour by using different tones for each minute, quarter hour and hours. Dent, a renowned British firm and designer of this piece, was the Queen's watchmaker, provided watches for Charles Darwin and created the Big Ben.