An early George Graham verge

A fine verge watch, by the great George Graham, in later silver gilt and underpainted horn pair cases.

MOVEMENT : The gilt verge movement has a large diamond endstone and four Egyptian pillars. The well engraved winged balance cock shows a mask at the neck.

Signed Geo. Graham and numbered 4794.

The underside of the balance cock foot and the dial plate are both also engraved with the serial number (4794). An interesting feature of the balance is the hairspring stud which has a square section hole and pin, rather than the normal round section. The use of square pins was first used by Thomas Tompion and often seen on Graham watches.

In excellent condition throughout and running well.

DIAL : Fine white enamel dial, again in excellent condition. This dial is a little later than the movement, probably late 18thc.

Fine blued steel beetle and poker hands. In excellent condition.

INNER CASE : Silver gilt case, with no maker’s marks.
In very good condition throughout, with even wear to the gilding of the outer surfaces. The hinge is fine and the bezel snaps shut correctly.

The high dome crystal is fine.

OUTER CASE : Gilt brass with a horn covering, underpainted with a seaweed pattern.

Again in good condition. The hinge, catch and catch button are complete and the bezel snaps shut correctly. Some wear to the gilding.
The horn is complete and with a good colour. There is one crack to the bezel and a few cracks on the back, radiating from the hinge. There are some pins missing from the horn covering but no sign of lifting.

These cases are later that the movement.

The watch has a few features typical of George Graham. These include the serial number repeated under the balance cock and on the dial plate, a square section hairspring pin, and the exceptional quality of the engraving.

All of Graham’s verge movements are signed ‘Geo. Graham’. The serial number of this movement dates it to around 1720, which is early for a Graham watch (his first watches signed on his own rather than with Thomas Tompion are from about number 4570).
From about 1726 George Graham switched from using verge to mainly cylinder escapements.

George Graham