Lot 52

A collection of 3 verge pocket watches
Daniel Quare, London, Movement No. 795, Case No. 795, 58 mm, 173 g, circa 1720
An important, rare and heavy quarter repeating verge pocket watch
Case: transport case - brass, leather covered. Inner case - gold, rear bell. Dial: enamel. Movm.: full plate movement, keywind, chain/fusee, 2 hammers, three-arm brass balance.
The gold case has a pierced and engraved band and the back side is with Repoussé decoration "Orpheus with the harp und Eurydice".
Daniel Quare
Daniel Quare, one of the most eminent makers was born around 1648 in Somersetshire. He joined the clockmakers company in 1671 and became a master in 1708. He died on March 21, 1724, in Croydon in Surrey.
In addition to his legendary clocks and watches Quare created various barometers and mathematical instruments and is credited with the invention of the rack striking mechanism. He came to the attention of the King in 1686, when Edward Barlow tried to patent a repeating mechanism for watches, and Quare, with the support of the clockmakers company, appealed his patent, saying he had been making repeaters since 1680. Repeating was important in the era before easily turned-on electric light, so you could know what time it was in the dark. Barlow's patent was refused, and the king, testing Barlow's and Quare's watches side by side, stated a preference for Quare's.
There are Quare clocks in the royal collections at Buckingham Palace and Hampton Court, as well as in important museums and further private collections.

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