Tarts London Repousse

I've never mentioned this before, but I'm an art history nerd. In short, I took an intro to art history course in high school that sparked my passion for this other "old-people" interest. I vividly remember a class period during which my teacher flashed an image of a gold repousse plate of some sort then asking the students if we knew the term for such decoration. My hand shot up, and I quickly blurted out "repousse." From my days of drooling over antique watches, the term was a no-brainer. Since those days, I had always dreamed of acquiring a repousse pocket watch. Fortunately for me, that day came in the form of a "Dutch forgery."

Tarts pocket watches are considered "pseudo-London" pocket watches. These have been known as "Dutch-forgeries" rather than genuine watches from England. Tarts is the most prolific of these watches with John Wilter being another of these "pseudo-London" watches. These watches are usually of lesser quality  which is apparent if you were to compare pictures of this movement to actual English watches of the same time period - the finishing is much cruder with "choppy" edges rather than smooth and screws that look more industrial than refined. 

The overall condition of the watch is great but at the same time not so. The repousse case should be silver gilt, meaning that it should be gold plated overtop the sterling silver base. Most gilt watches have a brass base so that once a watch has been thoroughly worn through, the dull brown "interior" is in full view. This case being silver, however, I was still able to polish it nicely though not to excellent condition because it should be completely gilt and not silver. The inner case (not pictured) is of much better condition having its gold coat and all. I was able to confirm that the watch is silver gilt and not simply gilt because of the hallmarks within the inner case. 

Another neat feature of the watch is its champleve dial. The dial is made to have troughs and raised portions. Traditionally, champleve is combined with enamelling so that the enamel fits right into the carved out areas. What I have seen with watches, however, is that the troughs are left as is, unfilled. The dial is also of gold tone, but I was unable to test the gold content (I should really invest in a gold testing set...).

Vulliamy Half-quarter Dumb Repeater (repeater a toc)

I was fortunate enough to purchase this watch at a phenomenally low price and sell it for more than double - a little bit of knowledge goes a long way in antiques dealing! I didn't even take the watch apart as it was working and repeating already. I did, however, take extra time to research the history behind Vulliamy and this particular type of repeater.

SO, here is what I discovered:

The movement consists of a cylinder escapement and dumb repeater mechanism combination which is rare in itself. The addition of the Vulliamy name, which can essentially guarantee quality, ups the rarity tremendously. What I mean by quality is that nearly every single part of this watch is finished to an exceptional degree. I realize that I'm using these large and overused adjectives to describe the movement, but I'm serious, this watch is an absolute beaut! Check out the pictures and captions below of the detailing.

This specific type of dumb repeater is a British Stockten-type movement based on the mechanism underneath the dial. I don't have too much info on that, but feel free to look it up. At this point, some of you might be wondering what a dumb repeater (repeater a toc) is to begin with. Essentially, it is a repeater without gongs. Rather than hitting gongs and chiming, the hammers on this dumb repeater tap the dust cover that cause vibrations so the user can feel the time rather than hear it. I have seen other examples of the hammers tapping the actual case, too. This type of watch has also been referred to as an opera watch because its practical purpose back in the day was for the user to know the time without disturbing others around him in a dark environment. 

So what about Vulliamy? What makes the name so special? Unfortunately, the movement was probably not made by the Justin Vulliamy, the father of the Vulliamy family of watch and clock makers. A particularly unique aspect of Vulliamy watches is the code that Justin Vulliamy and Benjamin Gray devised as a "numbering" system. This movement is marked "x i s," which actually doesn't tell us much at all. This secret code has continued to elude understanding for centuries. What I can confirm, however, is that this movement dates before 1816, the year Vulliamy switched to a four-letter code.

Didn't have the watch in my possession for even a week, but the opportunity to own and examine this piece of horological history was fascinating. The history I learned from research further solidified my passion for this "old-man's" hobby.

*Working on getting the video up*

Full-capped balance with nice 
pierced and engraved parts

As someone mentioned to me, the diamond is truly of
jewelry quality with all the facets of a diamond you'd 
normally find in a ring

View of the hammers
(the polished metal part touching the main plate)

Close-up of the cylinder escapament

Unfortunately no hands :( 

Highly finished, polished repeater mechanism
 - still beautiful after 200+ years