English 18K gold pair cased pocket watch with date Circa 1790

Gold cylinder pocket watch with date display
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An English 18 carat gold pair cased pocket watch with date, made by Eardley Norton in London, circa 1790. The watch features a full plate mechanical movement with key winding and a cylinder escapement. It has a white enamel dial with Roman numerals, an outer minute track, inner Arabic date markers, arrow shaped hands, and a blued gilt calendar hand. The case and bowl are decorated with chased plant motifs and include a smooth 18 carat gold overcase. The watch comes with a key. Both the dial and movement are signed, and the case is numbered.
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Diameter: 51 mm
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Weight: 123 g
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Signed: Eardley Norton, London
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Eardley Norton was an English watch and chronometer maker of great repute, born in 1728 in Lincolnshire and died in 1792. He apprenticed as a clockmaker on 25 May 1743 to Robert Dawson of Alford. By 1760, he was working in London at 49 St. John Street, Clerkenwell. He was a member of the Clockmakers’ Company from 1770 until his death. He mainly made complicated timepieces but also had his name on some cheaper watches, which he signed with Yeldrae (Eardley backwards). His name was sometimes faked on Swiss watches. In 1771, he patented a new type of striking mechanism for clocks and watches. For George III, he made a Royal watch collection, with the showpiece being an astronomical clock with four dials. Norton received 1,042 pounds sterling for these watches, a considerable sum at the time. Another notable work is the musical clock he made for the Russian Tsarina Katharina.