17thc. London single handed watch

A very attractive 17thc., single handed London verge, in good condition.

MOVEMENT : A single handed (no centre wheel) gilded movement with four ornate pillars and a silver regulator disk. The wonderful pierced and engraved balance cock is beautifully decorated with foliage and scrolls in the typical 17thc. style.

The movement is signed Paul Ellis, London.

All in very good condition and running well.

This is a fine quality movement with some interesting features. The balance wheel has grooves to the upper surface (reeded), the balance spring is mounted clockwise from the pin (later watches always anticlockwise). All four of the polished steel arbors on the movement wheels are turned with fins to form elegant baluster shapes,

DIAL : A silver champleve dial, with the unusual gilded central disk beautifully engraved with foliage.

Single blued steel hand.

All in excellent condition.

INNER CASE : A silver case, with no hallmarks (too early) but maker’s mark IW under a crown.

All in good condition though the bow has worn thin and is a little distorted. Just a couple of small bruises on the back.

The very high dome crystal is good. The hinge is fine and the bezel snaps shut nicely.

OUTER CASE : A silver studded black leather outer case with silver rims.

In quite good condition. The hinge is fine and the bezel snaps shut nicely.

There is some leather missing from the bezel near the neck, a short split on the back from the neck,  and a little shrinkage around the rim of the back. The silver pique work is almost complete to the bezel and back, with most of the decorative design to the back intact.

Paul Ellis was free of the Clockmakers’ Company in 1682, and died in 1703. I believe that this watch was made no later than 1685.

The case maker is probably John Willoughby of Old Bailey, London.