214 - Herbert Blockley - No. 2/1449

Herbert Blockley - No. 2/1449 (*) A fine and heavy, dustproof London expedition deck watch with a 30-hour power reserve indicator Movement No. 2/1449, Case No. 28 9, Dimensions 59 mm, circa 1907, Weight 231 g, Origin: England Case: Silver, smooth, screw-back, case maker’s punch mark “PW” (Philip Woodman & Sons, 33 Smith Street, Northampton Square, Clerkenwell), screw-down bezel and winding crown beneath a screw-down protective cap secured by a chain, leather sealing rings. Dial: Enamel. Movement: 2/3-plate movement, chain/fusee, optionally key-wound or crown-wound, English lever escapement, large gold-screw chronometer balance, free-sprung, blued balance spring. Herbert Blockley was a star student at the British Horological Institute; he went into partnership with Major J.A. Lund as “Lund & Blockley” at 42 Pall Mall. J.A. Lund later established a company called “Lund & Blockley” in Bombay, India, and Herbert Blockley continued the business in London on his own; he later moved to 41 Duke Street, St. James’s. He specialized in deck watches for expeditions that featured screw-down, dust- and water-resistant cases; many of them were purchased by the Royal Geographical Society and loaned to expedition leaders. Case: very good. Dial: very good. Movement: very good, capable of running, cleaning recommended.