Spring-detent escapement watch with gold case by John Barwise

Gold spring-detent escapement watch by John Barwise. Gold case stamped VW (for casemaker Valentine Walker) and hallmarked for 1799 – 1800. White enamel dial signed Barwise, London, 158'. Subsidiary dials for hours, minutes and up-and-down indicator, all with gold hands, and a seconds dial with blued steel hand. Spring detent escapement; a lightened version of Earnshaw’s arrangement. Solid 3-armed brass balance with two bi-metallic arms fixed to it. Jewelled pivot holes and diamond endstone. Signed on movement ‘Barwise, London, No. 158’.

Sir David Salomons owned an extensive collection of watches, including many notable pieces by the French horologist Abraham Louis Breguet. He presented a total of 8 watches from his collection, including this one, to the museum of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers in 1924. Clockmakers' Museum No. 433