Willm HARRISON, London. No 26
One of only six watches known with Harrison’s jewelled verge escapement, circa 1775.
£38,000.00
Large gilt metal pair case, the outer with hidden joint. Capped fullplate fusee movement with square baluster pillars, the train crossed out in 6’s and, importantly, a potence incorporating a separate slide-mounted front escape pivot housing, as needed with this escapement. Harrison’s recoiling verge escapement as used in H4, as restored for me by Seth Kennedy, with twin sapphire pallets mounted on brass collects, the original brass escape acting on the back of the pallets if the balance arc becomes overly large – see my drawing of this escapement. Steel balance, spiral balance-spring. Beautiful original enamel dial in perfect condition, gold beetle & poker hands. 55 mm diameter.
William Harrison, son of John Harrison and a co-signatory on H5, the improved version of H4 which father and son were working on when John Harrison died in 1776. The six known examples that contain this escapement are of course H4 and H5, as well as John Harrison’s own watch that pre-dates H4 and bears the name of its maker John Jefferys. The Harrison ‘portrait’ watch which is considered to have been made for William Harrison, and which bears the name of its maker Thomas Barton. This had the escapement originally, although it has been changed, as have the two other watches bearing the name of William Harrison, and which are numbered 26 and 33.
It is not known why these last two examples were made but it is probable that once the remaining Longitude ‘prize money’ was finally paid out to the Harrisons (in 1773), the son was able to have a splendid watch made for his own use – the ‘portrait’ watch. It now also seems likely that William had a small run of watches made with his father’s ‘prize-winning’ escapement, either to present to those who had supported his father in his dealings with the Board of Longitude over the years, or, more likely, to sell.
The movements of the Barton portrait watch and nos 26 and 33 do not share the same rough movements and all show differences of construction and finish. They each, however, have the potence slide which is present in all the six watches, and which is needed to allow the staff and its collets to be put into place – see my image showing the slide in place. NB: This slide is not for adjustment, as had always been said with the Jefferys watch. The slide does not adjust – it is just pulled out and pushed back when assembling the escapement.
Wm Harrison No 33, restored for me by Roger Stevenson, was sold to the Time Museum. This was housed in the family owned ‘Clock Tower Inn’ at an otherwise unremarkable crossroad junction on the outskirts of Rockford, Illinois. It remained on display until the Atwood family sold the motel. The collection was then offered at Sothebys New York in October 2004 where it was purchased by John Taylor, only recently coming on the market again as Part II of his collection offered for sale by the Carter Marsh dealership in November 2021.
The important points to note about No 26 are:
– The movement has not been adapted from an ordinary verge. It has been specifically built to house Harrison’s jewelled verge escapement, being one of just six examples known.
– The gilt metal case has been made for the movement and is well made. Whether it is the first case is however debatable. I suspect that the watch was originally sold in a gold case, and, like No 33, probably dates from around 1775.
– This watch, like William Harrison’s own ‘portrait’ watch, never had maintaining power nor temperature compensation. The movement of No 26 is as made; for personal use, not as a longitude timekeeper.
– Unlike the diamonds used in H4 and H5, the restoration uses sapphire pallets, as used in the Jefferys watch. I believe it unlikely they they would have been diamond, but an unaltered example has yet to surface such that we will know for sure.
– The maker of this watch (if not William Harrison) may well have been Larcum Kendal. This is particularly relevant as John Taylor also sold a re-cased movement signed by Larcum Kendall for the sum of £70,000 in 2021. It did have a lovely dial (as does this Harrison) and signed backplate, but there was nothing special about the movement or its escapement and the later gilt-metal case was poorly made. It was, I suspect, the unfinished movement that was sold as part of Kendall’s estate after his death in 1790. No 26 is a far more important, original and interesting watch.
– William Harrison trained as a watchmaker and worked closely with his father, their joint names being on H5. Of the six watches with this escapement only four bear the Harrison name, this being one of only two in private hands. Its rarity and horological interest is not a matter of opinion.
Item reserved
Description
Large gilt metal pair case, the outer with hidden joint. Capped fullplate fusee movement with square baluster pillars, the train crossed out in 6’s and, importantly, a potence incorporating a separate slide-mounted front escape pivot housing, as needed with this escapement. Harrison’s recoiling verge escapement as used in H4, as restored for me by Seth Kennedy, with twin sapphire pallets mounted on brass collects, the original brass escape acting on the back of the pallets if the balance arc becomes overly large – see my drawing of this escapement. Steel balance, spiral balance-spring. Beautiful original enamel dial in perfect condition, gold beetle & poker hands. 55 mm diameter.
William Harrison, son of John Harrison and a co-signatory on H5, the improved version of H4 which father and son were working on when John Harrison died in 1776. The six known examples that contain this escapement are of course H4 and H5, as well as John Harrison’s own watch that pre-dates H4 and bears the name of its maker John Jefferys. The Harrison ‘portrait’ watch which is considered to have been made for William Harrison, and which bears the name of its maker Thomas Barton. This had the escapement originally, although it has been changed, as have the two other watches bearing the name of William Harrison, and which are numbered 26 and 33.
It is not known why these last two examples were made but it is probable that once the remaining Longitude ‘prize money’ was finally paid out to the Harrisons (in 1773), the son was able to have a splendid watch made for his own use – the ‘portrait’ watch. It now also seems likely that William had a small run of watches made with his father’s ‘prize-winning’ escapement, either to present to those who had supported his father in his dealings with the Board of Longitude over the years, or, more likely, to sell.
The movements of the Barton portrait watch and nos 26 and 33 do not share the same rough movements and all show differences of construction and finish. They each, however, have the potence slide which is present in all the six watches, and which is needed to allow the staff and its collets to be put into place – see my image showing the slide in place. NB: This slide is not for adjustment, as had always been said with the Jefferys watch. The slide does not adjust – it is just pulled out and pushed back when assembling the escapement.
Wm Harrison No 33, restored for me by Roger Stevenson, was sold to the Time Museum. This was housed in the family owned ‘Clock Tower Inn’ at an otherwise unremarkable crossroad junction on the outskirts of Rockford, Illinois. It remained on display until the Atwood family sold the motel. The collection was then offered at Sothebys New York in October 2004 where it was purchased by John Taylor, only recently coming on the market again as Part II of his collection offered for sale by the Carter Marsh dealership in November 2021.
The important points to note about No 26 are:
– The movement has not been adapted from an ordinary verge. It has been specifically built to house Harrison’s jewelled verge escapement, being one of just six examples known.
– The gilt metal case has been made for the movement and is well made. Whether it is the first case is however debatable. I suspect that the watch was originally sold in a gold case, and, like No 33, probably dates from around 1775.
– This watch, like William Harrison’s own ‘portrait’ watch, never had maintaining power nor temperature compensation. The movement of No 26 is as made; for personal use, not as a longitude timekeeper.
– Unlike the diamonds used in H4 and H5, the restoration uses sapphire pallets, as used in the Jefferys watch. I believe it unlikely they they would have been diamond, but an unaltered example has yet to surface such that we will know for sure.
– The maker of this watch (if not William Harrison) may well have been Larcum Kendal. This is particularly relevant as John Taylor also sold a re-cased movement signed by Larcum Kendall for the sum of £70,000 in 2021. It did have a lovely dial (as does this Harrison) and signed backplate, but there was nothing special about the movement or its escapement and the later gilt-metal case was poorly made. It was, I suspect, the unfinished movement that was sold as part of Kendall’s estate after his death in 1790. No 26 is a far more important, original and interesting watch.
– William Harrison trained as a watchmaker and worked closely with his father, their joint names being on H5. Of the six watches with this escapement only four bear the Harrison name, this being one of only two in private hands. Its rarity and horological interest is not a matter of opinion.
