202 - Robert Pennington Jr. - Cedric Jagger Collection

Robert Pennington Jr. - Cedric Jagger Collection A fine, rare London pocket chronometer with an early screw-compensated balance and spring-detent escapement, made by this eminent chronometer maker Movm. No. 159, Dimensions 56 mm, circa 1814, Weight 181 g, Origin England Case: Silver, smooth, case maker’s punch mark “TG” (Thomas Grove). Dial: Enamel, off-white. Movement: 4/5-plate movement, chain/fusee, spring detent escapement, bimetallic chronometer balance with 4 screws and 6 weights, free-sprung blued helical balance spring with terminal curves on both sides. Robert Pennington was a renowned watchmaker who worked in London from around 1780 until his death in 1813. He is believed to have invented the screw balance—a very early version of which was used in the chronometer we have here. Pennington worked with William Howells and a number of other watchmakers; between 1794 and 1799, the group produced at least 27 examples of Thomas Mudge’s “marine timekeepers” commissioned by Mudge’s son. Pennington also created the magnificent drawings of plates in “A Description with Plates,” which Mudge Jr. published in 1799. This watch is illustrated and described in Cecil Clutton’s “The Collection of Cedric Jagger.” Case: very good. Dial: good, with hairline scratches. Movement: very good, capable of running, cleaning recommended.