Hallmarked Fusee Pocket Watch

[Admin]

Hi everyone,

I saw Crossword mentioning their pocket watch collection the other day, and it reminded me that I had this piece tucked away.

I used 925-1000.com to decode the hallmarks, and the anchor confirms it was assayed in Birmingham. The date code is an uppercase "I" in a clipped-corner shield, which pins it exactly to 1857.

The case has a fascinating "who's who" of initials. The main sponsor mark is "EH," which Google searches suggest is Edward Howard. However, I also found "TF" on the inside of the dustcover and "HE" on the inner case. I’m wondering if these were sub-contractors—perhaps Thomas Farnol for the "TF" mark?

The movement is a high-grade English lever escapement fusee with what appears to be a diamond endstone on the balance cock. The serial number 12600 matches the case perfectly.

What really makes this special is the provenance. It contains three original watch papers:

• Bryson & Son (Dalkeith): Likely the original retailer.
• D.D. Lochhead (Earlston): Two service papers from a shop that didn't even open until 1877!

I sometimes wonder if someone originally bought it in Birmingham and moved to Scotland, but given the Bryson paper is at the bottom of the stack, it’s just as likely Bryson & Son ordered the cased movement from the Birmingham trade for their Scottish customers. Either way, it spent decades being well-loved in the Borders. It has a great patina and a lot of history!

 

[Admin]

I just realized that what I thought was "HE" is really "IHE" - so the case-maker has been positively identified as Joseph Harris Elliot (the uppercase "I" is used instead of a "J" ), and the "EH" is probably someone else who may have worked on the case (not the actual case-maker).