Skip to main content

Watch: M/P.91-1913

Object information

Current Location: In storage

Maker(s)

Maker: Breguet, Abraham Louis

Entities

Categories

Description

Swiss lever watch in two-colour gold case set with rubies

MOVEMENT: Full plate movement, not named or numbered. Swiss maker. Balance bridge pierced and engraved, polished steel end piece, light red end stone, two blued screws. Gold balance. Silver regulation dial engraved ' ADVANCE' and 'RETARD', blued steel hand. Plain turned fusee iron post. Polished steel case bolt, truncated conical end, nib under dial. Bridge, above pillar plate, for escapement. Pillar plate with four cylindrical pillars, off-set second wheel recess, third wheel bridge. Polished steel set-up ratchet and click. Plate stamped '31878' (filled centre hole and second near min. pin). Fusee and chain, barrel with one lip, set-up click under dial. Jewelled single roller English lever escapement. Train planted clockwise.

DIAL: Gold, edge turned down to fit over pillar plate. Dial face matted. Engine turned with off-set, 6 o'clock, painted dial, line min. ring thick 5 min. lines, radial Roman chapters, min. ring and chapters on polished rings. Winding hole at 2.45. Back scraped and scratched '31878'.

HANDS: Blued steel, spade ends.

CASE: Gold set with rubies. Body matt with applied two-colour gold design of leaves and flowers and set rubies. Bezel and back set, at edge, with ten rubies. Bezel with off-set glass above 6 o'clock. Inside back stamped '31878' and indistinct maker's mark, scratched 'q/q/r', '374' above '1ly' and 'el, 18'. Plain spherical pendant, stamped '31878', with round bow with two indistinct stamps.

Legal notes

Bequeathed by Frank Gray Smart

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1913-06-05) by Smart, Frank Gray

Dating

19th Century
Production date: circa AD 1820

Components of the work

Movement composed of iron silver
Case composed of rubies Diameter 38.5 mm Height 44 mm Thickness 13 mm
Movement, Case, Dial composed of gold
Movement, Hand composed of steel
Movement (top Plate) Diameter 30 mm
Movement (pillar Plate) Diameter 32 mm
Movement (pillar) Height 2.75 mm
Dial

Inscription or legends present

  • Text: 31878
  • Location: Movement
  • Method of creation: Stamped and scratched
  • Type: Number
  • Text: 'q/q/r', '374' above '1ly' and 'el, 18'
  • Location: Case
  • Type: Number

Identification numbers

Accession number: M/P.91-1913
Primary reference Number: 207258
No.: 31878
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Tuesday 8 December 2015 Updated: Wednesday 14 March 2018 Last processed: Friday 8 December 2023

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Watch" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/207258 Accessed: 2024-12-18 20:16:34

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/207258 |title=Watch |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-12-18 20:16:34|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:

https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-207258

Sign up for updates

Updates about future exhibitions and displays, family activities, virtual events & news. You'll be the first to know...