A very interesting watch, with a slow beat lever movement, made by Thomas Yates of Preston

MOVEMENT : Signed and numbered (7108). Slow beat lever fusee movement, with ruby endstone and heavy polished gold balance wheel. The movement is protected by removable gilt dustcap.

Wonderful condition throughout.

The slow beat (10800 beats per hour) is achieved by the unusual train counts and a heavy gold balance wheel.

DIAL : Cream enamel dial, in perfect condition.

CASE : Fine quality silver case. Hallmarks for Chester, 1891, maker SQ (Samuel Quilliam of Liverpool), case number 24874. Gold hinges. Central cartouche (empty) to the back. All in good condition, with just a few very minor dents. Both gold hinges are fine, and both covers snap shut nicely. The crystal is fine.

Thomas William Yates patented a variety of slow beat watches between about 1846 and 1880, with beat speeds ranging from 7200 to 11200.

This watch is in a case hallmarked for 1891, a year after Yates death, but the case maker, Samuel Quilliam, was commonly used by Yates, so it is probable that this is the original case, and that this movement was originally cased just after Yates’s death.