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Mercier Astronomical Verge Watch, Late 17th Century

A late 17th century Mercier Astronomical verge pair cased watch, the frosted gilt chain fusee movement with finely pierced and engraved cock and foot secured by one screw, with the tail to the edge of the top-plate, other pierced and engraved furniture containing a mythical figure as indicator for the silvered regulation disc, pierced and faceted tulip pillars with mythical fish design, the finely engraved gilt champleve dial with black enamel Roman numerals, guilded central section with a silvered disc for aspects of the moon, outer calendar chapter ring. The plain silver inner case with bullseye glass. The shagreen covered outer case with silver pin work. The movement signed 'Franciscus Mercier'. France, circa 1680. Provenance: The collection of Dr Trevor Hyde, Sydney

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  • Shagreen - Shagreen is the untanned smoothly pebbled textured skins of rays, sharks or dogfish. In finishing, it is dyed, mostly green, but the colour often fades to a cream colour. Shagreen was a popular material in Europe during the Art Deco era, when designers sought to mould the French tradition of luxury with exotic and precious materials. Most collectable items made from shagreen are smaller objects, like glasses cases, dagger and sword hilts, dressing accessories, boxes and picture frames.
  • Pair Cased - A pair cased watch is one with a double case. The movement is encased, and for additional protection this is fitted into an outer case.
  • Moon Dial - If we imagine life in the 17th century, the only source of ascertaining the time of day or night would have been the local church or municipal clock striking every quarter hour, and able to be heard by all in the village. In England, when longcase clocks became popular and more affordable in the late 17th century, the function of timekeeping and source of time was moved to within the home.

    An additional feature on some longcase clocks was to display the phases of the moon, that is the new moon, the full moon and the waning moon over the lunar 29 ½ day cycle. This information was important for farmers for working out cropping schedules; for travellers to know the amount of moonlight on a night they planned to travel; and for those who lived near the sea required knowledge of the tides.

    Where included, the moon dial is usually in the form of a disc incorporated into the main dial plate, usually in the arched top section. The lunar cycle starts with the new moon displaying, which is a dark night sky and no man-in-the-moon face being displayed, and then progresses to the full moon face showing on the 15th day of the lunar cycle, and back to no face displaying as the moon wanes. Most lunar dials are partially concealed on each side of their opening in the main dial plate by semi-circular "humps" that allow the painted face to emerge slowly just as the real moon goes out of and back into the earth's shadow.

    Nowadays, details of the lunar cycle is published in diaries, almanacs, and newspapers and although some modern longcase clocks are still manufactured with working moon dials, they are more for decoration than for use.
  • 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.
  • Movement - The technical name for the workings of a clock or watch, and does not include the dial or case.
  • Chapter Ring - A separate metal plate on the face of a clock, on which the numerals for the hours and sometimes parts of the hours, are displayed, usually wheel shaped and sitting on top of the dial plate. The chapter ring is often a feature of the clock and can be silvered or enamelled to stand as a contrast to its background. The hours are usually shown in Roman numerals, although in the late 19th and earlt 20th century, Arabic numerals became fashionable.
  • 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.

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A late 17th century Mercier Astronomical verge pair cased watch,…