William Threlkeld, London, Movement No. 626, Case No. 626, 49 mm, 135 g, circa 1733

A very fine, exceptional and rare quarter repeating pair-cased pocket watch with cylinder escapament and additional gold enamel outer case
Case: 18k rose gold, rear bell. Dial: enamel. Movm.: full plate movement, keywind, chain/fusee, 2 hammers, three-arm steel balance.

This fine pocket watch has two outer cases: a leather-covered protective case of gilded brass decorated with studs and another made of gold and stamped with the case maker’s mark "DA". The back is decorated with engine-turned pattern and two blue enamel monograms "HW" and "FF"; the case band has a fine blue enamel key-fret band. The inner case is open worked around the rim and exquisitely engraved with tendrils and a cartouche with a mask.

In his book "Clockmakers of Britain 1286-1700" Brian Loomes lists William Threlkeld II as a trained watchmaker and goldsmith born in 1674 in Brancepath, County Durham. By 1695 Threlkeld had moved to London and had a workshop in the Parish of St. Michael in Cornhill. Around 1726 Threlkeld moved his business to St. Martin in the Fields; it was there that he took on Thomas Hudson as his apprentice. Records of 1728 list him as working somewhere on the Strand, near the New Exchange at the time. William Threlkeld is thought to have died around 1750.