Wales & McCulloch, 20 Ludgate Hill, London, Movement No. 3480, Case No. 3480, 51 mm, 125 g, circa 1897

An English half hunting case pocket watch with Bonniksen carousel revolving in 52,5 minutes, formerly with Kew A certificate of the Kew/Teddington observatory "82.1 Marks Especially Good"
Case: 18k gold, inlaid, radial Roman numerals, polished, gold dome, case maker's punch mark "EM" (Edward Matthews, Clerkenwell). Dial: enamel, off-white (Willis), radial Roman hours, auxiliary seconds, signed, blued double spade hands. Movm.: 3/4 plate movement, frosted, gilt, signed, chatoned, English lever escapement, gold screw compensation balance, chatoned diamond endstone on balance.

Wales & McCulloch
The company Wales & McCulloch existed in London since 1862. The first address was 32 Ludgate Street; from 1862 until 1869 the company had premises at 56 Cheapside, it moved to 22 Ludgate Hill later. >From 1890 until bis 1910 the company address was 20 Ludgate Hill. Tony Mercer lists Wales & McCulloch in "Chronometer Makers of the World" as manufacturer as well as retailer and supplier to the Admiralty. For this watch Wales & McCulloch used a finished movement produced by the watch industry Bonniksen had revived in Coventry and fitted it with a dial and a case before selling it. The company is recorded as having supplied the British navy with deck watches from 1896 until 1914 - one of them, no. 121654 in 1909, was even a tourbillon.