Gilt Cylinder Escapement Watch by Charles Cabrier
A Charles Cabrier gilt pair case cylinder escapement watch, gilt fullplate movement with fusee, engraved balance cock with diamond endstone. Cylinder escapement. The fullplate signed C Cabrier London, with serial number 5673. The gilt cap dust cover also signed with matching serial number. The gilt inner case marked 'In'. The enamel dial with Arabic numerals and gilt delicate star hands. The outer case gilt with guilloche. Diameter: 2.01 in. Provenance: The collection of Dr Trevor Hyde, Sydney
You must be a subscriber, and be logged in to view price and dealer details.
Register Now to view actual auction price for this item.
- Guilloche - A form of classical decoration consisting of a repeating ornament of interlacing curved bands, sometimes forming circles, and further decorated with rosettes or other flower forms.
The name is derived from the inventor, French engineer Guillot, who invented a mechanical method of inscribing fine repeating patterns on to metallic surfaces.
On enamelled items with guilloche decoration, the surface is firstly engraved with the repeating pattern, and then covered with several layers of enamel, each of which is fired.
Where the item has not been enamelled the form of decoration is usually called "engine turned". - Movement - The technical name for the workings of a clock or watch, and does not include the dial or case.
- 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Use of the fusee in clocks was superseded by the "going barrel" in the mid 19th century and for pocket watches at the beginning of the 19th century.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.
This item has been included into following indexes:
