Thomas Mudge: A mid 18th century centre seconds cylinder pocket watch movement
Date: Circa 1758-59
Movement: Gilt and signed 'Thomas Mudge, London', numbered 502, pierced and engraved balance cock, diamond endstone, cylinder escapement, the plates separated by shaped knopped pillars
Dial: White enamel, Roman hour markers, Arabic outer 5 minute divisions, blued poker hands, steel centre seconds hand
Case: Dust cap signed 'Thomas Mudge, London'
Size: 35mm
Weight: 55g

Private collection, the property of a gentleman. Acquired prior to 1995 from a lady owner.

The vendor of the present lot has owned it for some 30 years, having acquired it from a lady who provided some details about its recent past. By this account, it was originally housed in a high carat gold repousse pair case which was sold for the war effort in 1941.

Thomas Mudge (1715/16-1794) was apprenticed to George Graham, successor to Thomas Tompion, in 1730, gaining his freedom of the Clockmakers' Company in 1738. His early career thenceforth included commissions for John Ellicott and, by association, King Ferdinand VI of Spain. Mudge took premises in Fleet Street in 1750 and in the early 1760s formed a partnership with William Dutton, with both names appearing on their productions. In 1770 he was commissioned to design a watch for King George III which incorporated his own invention, the detached lever escapement, which would eventually become the standard form for mechanical watches.

Between 1700 and around 1850, there were at least 250 different types of escapement invented, primarily in order to address the problem of accuracy. This was as a result of friction and the affects of temperature on the balance spring. One of the more successful was the cylinder escapement, developed by Mudge's erstwhile master George Graham in 1726. It was distinct by having a horizontal escape wheel, as opposed to vertical in the verge movement, and while not made in great numbers in England, it was adopted widely in Continental Europe until the development of wristwatches.

Condition Report

• Dust cap: Good with only minor/negligible signs of age.
• Dial: Very small bruise to the outer edge at 10.
• Hands: Very slight tarnishing.
• Movement: Not running. Cylinder detached but extant.

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