English gold verge in chased and engraved case Circa 1770

Gold verge in pair cases
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An English 20k gold pair cased verge in a chased and engraved case, circa 1770. Full plate gilt fusee movement. Finely pierced and engraved bridge cock with polished steel ring in the middle, plain three-arm gilt balance with blue steel spiral hairspring. Silver regulator dial. Pentagonal baluster pillars. Winding through the back, Roman and Arabic numerals, fine decorative pierced gold hands. Gold case, engraved gold bezels.
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Diameter: 47 mm
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Weight: 82 g
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Signed: Cabrier London
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Unusual, English verge with French bridge cock and French-looking dial.

The Cabriers were a watchmaking family, whose father was French, he had immigrated to England as a consequence of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, whose son and grandson became also very well-known watchmakers under the same name.

Charles Cabrier, the father, was admitted into the Clockmakers’ Company in February 1697/98 as a Freeman by redemption. In 1717 he took his son, Charles Cabrier junior, as an apprentice, freeing him in 1726. Baillie lists Cabrier in Lombard Street. In 1730 a Cabrier is mentioned at the Dial, Tokenhouse Yard, in the parish of St. Margaret Lothbury.

Charles Cabrier jr. became an eminent maker and in 1757 he was elected Master of the Clockmakers’ Company 1757-1772. His watches are in many museums, including the British Museum, the Guildhall Museum, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Both Cabriers had strong ties with continental watchmakers.

The son of Charles Cabrier, Junior, also named Charles, became an eminent watchmaker in his own right, which sometimes leads to difficulties in attribution.

Bow not original.
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Reference 0013000