Fine and rare George Graham 22K gold pair case English cylinder and fusee
antique pocket watch circa 1731.
The inner case hallmarked 1731, the outer appears to have been purpose made in
1804 and the pendant was probably replaced at the same time.
The inner case with a shutter over the winding hole.
Fine gold champlevee dial with blued steel beetle and poker hands.
Gilt brass signed dust cover. Lovely movement with pierced end engraved
balance cock and pierced Egyptian pillars.
George Graham (1674-1751) was one of the most famous English watchmakers
and clockmakers, an inventor, and a member of the Royal Society. A Friend (Quaker)
like his mentor Thomas Tompion, Graham moved to London in 1688 to
work with Tompion and later became his partner later his and successor. Graham was known as
the best watchmaker of his time. In 1722 he was appointed the master of the
Clockmakers Company. He perfected the cylinder escapement designed by Tompion,
which had been patented by Edward Barlow, William Houghton, and Tompion in 1695,
and also perfected the dead-beat escapement, developed by Richard Towneley and
Tompion in the mid-1670s. In 1721 Graham invented the temperature-compensated
mercury pendulum, which was extensively adopted by other clockmakers. When combined
with the dead-beat escapement, such high-grade clocks were not surpassed in
accuracy for more than a century and a half.
Between 1730 and 1738,
Graham had as an apprentice Thomas Mudge who went on to be an eminent
watchmaker in his own right, and invented the lever escapement, an important
development for pocket watches. Graham was buried in the same tomb as his
friend and mentor Tompion in Westminster Abbey.
