Watch with complications and minute repeating by Samuel Smith & Son

Gold watch with complications by S. Smith & Son, London. 18 ct gold hunter case hallmarked for 1899, with makers mark 'S.S' for Samuel Smith and Son and punch marked with the number 148-3. Enamel dial with seperate dials for seconds, day of the week, day of the month and perpetual calendar. This automatically corrects the date for the changing numbers of days in each month, including for leap years. Within the seconds dial is an aperture for the phase of the moon. The dial also features a split second chronograph. Blued steel hands. Dial signed 'S Smith & Son, 9 Strand London, 148-3'. Movement with lever escapement, split seconds chronograph mechanism and minute repeating. The minute repeating mechanism enables the user to hear the time to the nearest minute by sliding a button on the side of the case, which causes hammers within the watch to strike on two different pitched gongs. Signed on the movement 'S. Smith & Son, 9 Strand, London. No 148-3. Makers to the Admiralty & the Indian Government.'

The watch was bequeathed to the Clockmakers' Museum by Colonel Humphrey Quill, author of 'John Harrison the Man who found Longitude' and Commanding Officer of the 30 Assault Unit (30AU) at the end of World War II. Clockmakers' Museum No. 690