90th Auction

2014/11/15

Lot 209

William Anthony, London, Movement No. 2363, Case No. 9270, 53 mm, 130 g, circa 1818
A very rare and very fine gold enamel pocket watch with duplex escapement for the Chinese market
Case: 18k gold, round, back cover lavishly engine-turned and with translucent bordeaux enamelling. Central opak polychrome enamelled flower bouquet in a wicker basket, with a scalloped narrow border of white enamel. Back and front outer borders, pendant and bow with blue, white and partly turquoise champlevé enamel. Engine-turned band, case maker's punch mark "TW" (possibly Thomas Walker of London). Dial: enamel, radial Roman hours, numbered, auxiliary seconds, spade gold hands. Movm.: full plate movement, lavishly florally engraved, frosted, gilt, keywind, chain/fusee, moulded movement pillars, duplex escapement, three-arm steel balance, fine florally engraved balance cock with engraved regulator scale, set diamond endstone.
William Anthony
William Anthony (1765-1844) worked in Red Lion Street, St. John's Square, Clerkenwell, and specialised in watches for the Chinese market.
Source: "Watchmakers and Clockmakers of the World", by G.H. Baillie vol. I, Edinburgh/London, 1947, p. 7.
Watches by William Anthony very rarely appear on the market. From a study of the public collections and the auction market over the last 50 years we learn that only 17 oval watches (from which 6 with expanding hands) and 15 round watches are known to exist.
Most of them were or still are part of famous collections as the Collection of King Farouk of Egypt, the Sir David Salomon Collection, the Marryat Collection, the Sandoz Collection at Musée du Locle, the Lord Sandberg Collection, the Patek Philippe Museum.
One oval watch was sold in the Belin Collection at Sotheby's London, in November 1979, lot 100 as the most expensive lot of the sale and recorded as the most expensive watch of the year.

Sold

estimated
60.00070.000 €
Price realized
68.200 €