Jacobus Markwick

A rare one-handed London verge pocket watch with retrograde hour dial and day/night indication Dimensions 46 mm, circa 1680, Weight 98 g, Origin England Case: Silver. Dial: Silver, champlevé, central aperture with a rotating blued steel disc depicting sun and moon. Movm.: Full plate movement, chain/fusee, three-arm brass balance. The silver Champlevé dial has retrograde Roman hours and surrounding Arabic minutes. In the upper half of the centre is a semi-circular opening showing the sun and moon on a blued steel disc, which revolves once every 24 hours. When the sun disappears on the right side of the display, the moon appears on the left. The lower half of the centre shows a relief scene. Diana, the goddess of the moon, is depicted in a chariot. Chronos hurries in front of her with a scythe and hourglass. Jacobus Markwick (Jacobus is Latin for James) was an important watchmaker in the 17th century. He trained as a watchmaker with Edward Gilpin in 1656 and became a member of the Clockmakers' Company in 1666. In 1673 he succeeded Samuel Betts as Steward of the Company. In 1677 he was sentenced to a fine for insulting the Master during the Steward's Feast. Nevertheless he obviously had a certain standing in the company. He produced watches and clocks in London up to 1698. Examples of his work are held at the Victoria & Albert Museum, in the Wetherfield Collection and at the National Museum at Stockholm. Case: very good, dents, worn. Dial: very good, small restaurations. Movm.: very good, restaurations, to be restored.