Excerpted from a NAWCC Bulletin article which appeared in the June 2000 issue.
This article does not appear here in its entirety. An Early English Watch
Ted Crom (FL) |
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A surviving English-style watch movement, circa 1700, among the author’s junque, may have once belonged to English royalty. The large watch cock (27.3 mm, or just over one inch table diameter) of the watch movement has a most interesting engraving. It is of the royal seal of England and a coat of arms circa 1707. See Figure 1. |
Throughout Europe leading personalities before and after the seventeenth century—kings, queens, members of the royal family, lords, knights, land owners, etc.—had insignia, emblems, shields, banners, flags, or seals, called coats of arms, to identify themselves in battle and elsewhere. use of a particular coat of arms was restricted to individuals or specific families. The thousands of designs and symbolism of the coats of arms are referred to as heraldry. Heraldry has a language of its own. To learn the language one can consult the proper reference books.1 Kings and queens customarily used the coat of arms to indicate which countries or lands they claimed as part of their domain. Such claims depended on marriage, conquest, and inheritance. Before the death of Queen mary of England in 1694, she and her husband King William had their combined coat of arms. After her death, King William revised his coat of arms, omitting the portions including Queen Mary’s. Beneath but part of his coat of arms was the Dutch House of Nassau-Orange motto JE MAINTIENDRAY. The motto signifies that King William will maintain the Protestant religion. King William III claimed within his domain England, Scotland, Ireland, and France. 1
 Figure 1. The cock and movement in a box made by the author who enjoys puttering in his shop. |
When King William was succeeded by Queen Anne in 1702, she changed the coat of arms to suit her pleasure. The balance cock engraving on the watch of this article includes the royal seal of England and the coat of arms apparently derived from both King William’s and Queen Anne’s coats of arms. As engraved on the gilded balance cock, Figure 1, the two “supporters” of the royal seal of England are, on the left, the lion rampant of England, and on the right, the rearing unicorn of Scotland. The Royal Order of the Garter with its traditional motto “HONY SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE” (evil to him who evil thinks), surrounds the coat of arms similar to those used by both King William and Queen Anne. Members of the royal family continue to use the motto to this day. The engraver has used a “Y” in both the HONY and the MAINTIENDRAY of the two mottos, not the usual letter “I.” The circular coat of arms engraved on the cock is divided into quarters, with the first and fourth quarters further divided into two parts. The first quarter is engraved with the three lions passant guardant indicating the kingdom of England, and with the lion rampant partially surrounded by the tressure (a basket weave border) indicating Scotland. The second quarter of the coat of arms consists of the three fleurs-de-lis representing France. The third quarter shows the harp of Ireland, and the fourth quarter is a repetition of the first. The possible royal connection of the watch movement was first recognized by John R. Millburn of England during correspondence regarding very early English watch papers. In further correspondence, Mr. Millburn has sent me considerable information about English heraldry of the 1700 time period. He is an excellent correspondent with a great sense of humor and vast knowledge. William III, Prince of Orange, became King of England in 1689 by popular acclaim. He died in 1702, six weeks after sustaining injuries from a fall off his horse. Queen Anne succeeded him. The possible connection of the watch movement with King William III and the House of Orange is suggested through the heraldry of the royal seal of England and coat of arms engraved on the balance cock, and including the motto JE MAINTIENDRAY. See Figure 2. The motto was used by King William and perhaps by some of the Dutch royal family in England. (Continued at top of next column) | | 2
 Figure 2. The balance cock with the engraved royal seal of England and the coat of arms indicating an association with English royalty. Crouched on the foot of the cock appears a lion or perhaps a dog. “Badollet London” is clearly engraved. The grotesque mask at the base of the table may be a lion of England. Please reference Note #1, submitted by Fred Powell, for an interesting commentary on this mask. |
The cock does not conform exactly with information concerning the coat of arms for King William III. Mr. Millburn states, “It is exactly right for the royal arms as used 1707-1714.” Thus the movement must be associated with Queen Anne, reigning 1702-1714, or her family and not with King William directly. The use of the House of Orange motto is a mystery. Only additional research might determine for whom the cock was engraved. The subject watch movement was among several seventeenth and eighteenth century movements purchased at an NAWCC regional years ago. The movements were acquired for their artistry alone. Nothing of the provenance of any of the movements was known at the time. Such fine old examples of exquisite artistry and workmanship are of great interest in themselves. Early balance cocks in particular, occasionally made of silver, were often fine works of art. That at least one of the watch movements may have recognizable historic implications in itself was surprising and delightful. Ain’t collecting fun? In so far as the author has been able to determine, a coat of arms is almost unique on a balance cock. In a manuscript by Mr. Millburn,2 an advertisement in the Daily Courant of October 7, 1703, concerns a lost watch. The ad states that the watch is signed Beekman London No. 44, with “the King’s Arms on the cock, a coat of arms on the silver outer case.” So, at least two watches have had royal coats of arms on their cocks.3 Famous makers have been known to work their own initials into the foliage and abstract designs of balance cocks and balance bridges. For example, Pierre le Roy, the great French maker of the eighteenth century, created some watches with his father’s initials “J.L.R.” worked into the ornate balance bridges.4 The A.L. Breguet watch No. 19 dating circa 1787, has what appears to be a coat of arms engraved on the back of the watch case.5 Mr. Millburn offers one interesting possibility for the coat of arms being concealed on the balance cock inside the watch case. The watch could have been a gift to a royal mistress so that the royal arms would only be revealed when the watch was opened in the lady’s private chamber. He says it would make a good story. Sure does—it is in keeping with what we read in newspapers today. Editor's note:
The author would like to call the reader's attention to a response to this article submitted by David Penney that offers a different opinion of origin and ownership. See Note #2.
About the AuthorTheodore R. Crom holds an honorary Doctor of Engineering degree from the University of Maryland, is a Silver Star of the NAWCC, and is a Fellow of the British Horological Institute. In 1990, he received the James W. Gibbs Literary award; in 1993, he received the BHI Silver Medal; and in 1994, Ted was program chairman for the NAWCC National Convention in Orlando, putting together an international slate of speakers. Ted founded, named, and was first president of Suntime Chapter 19; he also served as a national director and museum trustee. Ted is a retired engineering contractor with an interest in antique clocks, watches, tools, and books. He has written six books on horological subjects, as well as many articles for the Bulletin, and has lectured at NAWCC seminars, presenting the James Arthur Lecture at the 1991 Seminar in Ft. Mitchell, Kentucky. |
I believe that this grotesque face [at the base of the table of the balance cock] is not that of a stylized lion of England, but is instead that of the Greek pre-Olympic Titan, Chronos or Cronos or Cronus, etc., father of the various Greek Gods. His name, variously spelled and misspelled and corrupted, comes to us in the familiar words "Chronometer, chronograph", etc., relating to time. During the course of my work over the past thirty-odd years, I have examined, cleaned and restored hundreds, perhaps thousands, of similar balance cocks of the late 16th to mid 19th C; with a very few exceptions they show this ugly full-face, or masque, which can legitimately be described as somewhere between hideous and grotesque. But careful inspection of those balance cocks, as well as that in the excellent photograph in the article, shows that the face has a moustache, not leonine whiskers, that the hair is curly, not a mane; other similar balance-cock masques show a beard that is unmistakably non-leonine, etc. All the balance cocks that I have seen with this, or similar masks, have the same essential characteristics, which I describe as Imagined Ugly Titan, rather than lion, natural or not; some are distorted in ways that are plausible for an idea of a long-ago God, but not plausible for more-familiar lions. Notice that the lion on the table of the cock in the picture is plausibly realistic, although somewhat stylized. The ancient Greeks did not, as far as I can tell, associate Chronos with time (did they in fact have any serious concern for time at all?}; thus Chronos' name is perhaps attached to time-keeping through an accident of orthography. Educated Englishmen, who alone could afford to buy a watch in the 17th and 18th C, were well acquainted with ancient Greek and Roman mythology, but had rather casual ideas on spelling. So it was very reasonable to connect time and timekeepers with Chronos' name, however spelled. Other, easily available examples are cited: Plate 83 on p. 127 of Britten's "Old Clocks and Watches," or Plate 207 in Clutton and Daniels' "Watches." Both show the masque, which appears more Titan-like (human!) than leonine. Fred Powell
Antiquarian Horology Regarding the article on the use of a Royal Coat of Arms within the pierced and engraved cock of a watch signed for Badollet, London, I should like to point out that, though rare, such an engraving is not unique and certainly does not signify royal ownership much as the later use of Nelson and similar cock decoration do not indicate connection to the personalities portrayed. I have seen and handled various 'royal' examples over the last thirty years and most (if nor all) date to the early years of the 18th century; a more common variant uses a crowned royal cypher, often in silver, mounted on the watch pillars. None could be said to be an indication of royal provenance. However, it is a good indication of how certain London based watchmakers used such decoration to impress clients and gain sales - much as coronation mugs bearing royal emblems have done in more recent times. David Penney
Antiquarian Horologist and Horological Consultant FOOTNOTES 1 A.C. Fox-Davies. Revised and Annotated by J.P. Brooke-Little. A Complete Guide to Heraldry. London: Thomas Nelson & Sons. [1909] 1969.
John Woodward and George Burnett. Woodward’s A Treatise on Heraldry. Rutland, VT: Charles E. Tuttle Co.
J.H. and R.V. Pinches. The Royal Heraldry of England. London: Heraldry Today, 1974.
Cedric Jagger, The Artistry of the Watch, London: David & Charles, 1988. 2 W.R. and V.B. McLeod, and John R. Millburn. Horological Advertisements in the Reign of Queen Anne (1702-1714). Unpublished manuscript. Copies in the libraries of NAWCC, the Guildhall in London, and the Antiquarian Horological Society of England. 3 Mr. Millburn, in correspondence since this article was written, states that a silver pair-case watch by John Bushmann, London, No. 623, has surfaced. It has a wandering hour dial with a cock in the form of the royal arms. Mr. Millburn believes the arms are those of Charles I or II or James II. This would date the watch earlier than the author’s. It might also indicate the custom of having the royal arms on a royal watch cock is not unique or extremely rare. 4 Adolphe Chapiro. La Montre Française. Les Editions de l’Amateur. Paris, 1991, p. 112, fig. 268 and p. 117, fig. 278D. 5 Cecil Clutton and George Daniels. Watches. B.T. Batford LTD. London, 1965, figures 315-18. |
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