Lot 705

S. Smith & Son, 9 Strand, London, Makers to the British and Indian Governments, Movement No. 1900-3, Case No. 1900-3, 58 mm, 201 g, circa 1899
A gentleman's important, heavy minute repeating pocket watch with one-minute tourbillon and Kew Class A certificate - with original mahogany box with mother-of-pearl inlay
Case: 18k gold, tiered, gold dome. Dial: enamel made by Willis, off-white, radial Roman hours, auxiliary seconds, signed, numbered, blued spade hands made by Hood. Movm.: 4/5 plate movement, frosted, gilt, signed, screwed gold chatons, engraved emblems of the Order of the Garter ("Honi soit qui mal y pense") and the British Admiralty ("Sigil(lum) offi(ciale) Admiral(itatis) Magnae Brit(anniae)"), 2 hammers / 2 gongs, chain/fusee, finely polished steel tourbillon cage of Nielsen type 1, English lever escapement, Guillaume gold screw compensation balance with platinum regulation screws, freesprung Phillips balance spring with terminal curve, counterpoised lever with gold screw.
Willis und Hood
In the 'Horological Journal' of the year 1965 Frank Mercer complains the decline of the British watchmaking at the beginning of the 20th century: "At that period a good Swiss watch had to have a T.J. Willis dial, Jimmy Hood's hands and Frederick Thom's case fitted to it. All the wonderful craftsmen worked by themselves in their little shops. ... We remember the eggshell finished dials by Willis, the gold cases by Thoms and those superlative hands by Hood; fleur-de-lis, split-second chronograph, chronometer gold and steel all came from his sole output ... but their skill died with them and left a void with no one to carry on".
Tony Mercer, "Chronometers", Mayfield 2003, p. 98

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