Paul Beauvais London Silver Quarter Repeating Watch
Paul Beauvais London. A silver quarter repeating verge watch with alarm mvt 539 English circa 1730, gilt full plate movement signed and numbered Paul Beauvais, London no. 539, verge fusee escapement, pierced floral engraved balance cock, a mask at the neck with short streamers, silver locking plate visible to the backplate, turned baluster pillars, dustcover signed Paul Beauvais London, enamel dial with Roman numerals, outer Arabic minute ring, gilt inner alarm disk signed Beauvais London, steel fancy hands, cases with the bands pierced and engraved with foliage and scrolls, dial, dustcover and movement signed, diameter 2.13 in.
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- Back Plate - On many types of clocks, the movement operates between two plates, usually made of brass, one at the back, and the other at the front, which forms a mount for the dial.
On English bracket, mantle and table clocks the backplate was often visible through a glass door or panel from the late 17th century, and could be profusely engraved with scrolling decorations, flowers, foliage, birds, and figures. The engraving could also include the maker’s name.
The amount of engraving reduced and became simpler as the 18th century progressed, and by 1800, had been reduced to a border, often with the maker's name in the centre. By the early 1800s all decoration had ceased, and only the maker's name was added, and by the Victorian era, most bracket, mantle and table clocks had no engraving. - Fusee - The fusee movement was used in clocks and pocket watches from the mid 17th century. The fusee is a cone shaped drum within the works that is linked to the barrel of the spring, usually by a length of chain.
As the mainspring loses its tension over time, the cone shaped barrel compensates for this by increasing the tension, by pulling the mainspring tighter, thus ensuring the time remains constant.
Use of the fusee in clocks was superseded by the "going barrel" in the mid 19th century and for pocket watches at the beginning of the 19th century.
The fusee continued to be used in marine chronometers until the 1970s. - Movement - The technical name for the workings of a clock or watch, and does not include the dial or case.
- Circa - A Latin term meaning 'about', often used in the antique trade to give an approximate date for the piece, usually considered to be five years on either side of the circa year. Thus, circa 1900 means the piece was made about 1900, probably between 1895 and 1905. The expression is sometimes abbreviated to c.1900.
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