English gilt fine and rare verge watch with date Circa 1665

Rare pair cased verge watch with date
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An English fine and rare pair cased verge watch with date, circa 1665, gilded full plate movement, decoratively pierced and engraved cock with a serpent amidst flowers, oval foot, flat steel balance, worm and wheel set-up, silver regulation disc, fusee and gut line, Egyptian pillars
Gilt-brass dial, the chapter ring with Roman numerals and fleur-de-lys half-hour marks, quarter-hour divisions, gilded annular carrying a pointer indicating the date to the outer ring, dial centre with pierced and engraved vase of flowers, single short hour hand.
Plain polished inner case, shuttered winding aperture to back, outer leather-covered protective case with decorative gold piqué work, the back with four tulip flowers within a central ring.
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Diameter: 51 mm
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Signed: Jeremie Gregory at the royal exchange
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This is a rare and good example of a late pre-balance spring watch and has a particularly handsome dial. Jeremy Gregory (1621-1686), a highly respected maker, became a Clockmakers’ Company Assistant in 1656, Warden in 1660, Master from 1665-1668, and again in 1676. He appears to have been a close friend of the watchmakers Robert Grinkin

and Simon Bartrum and was mentioned in both their wills. It is believed that Gregory was originally apprenticed in the Goldsmiths’ Company to Jeremy East and he seems to have spent a considerable period of time working for the Easts who much influenced his work. A fascinating biography of Jeremy Gregory can be found on Brian Loomes’ website www.brianloomes.com.

Despite a lengthy business life, only a handful of works by Gregory are recorded. Examples of Gregory’s watches and clocks can be found in the collection of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers at the Science Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum.