English fine gold quarter repeating verge watch Circa 1710

Gold quarter repeating verge watch
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An English fine gold quarter repeating verge watch, circa 1710, gilded full plate, verge escapement, decoratively pierced and engraved balance cock with grotesque mask at the neck, three-arm brass balance, fusee and chain, round baluster pillars, repeating on a bell to the inside case back, signed Hen Massy, London
Gold champlevé dial, Roman numerals, outer Arabic minute ring, signature cartouches, quatrefoil half-hour divisions, blued steel hands, the hour hand of tulip form, dial signed
Gold inner case decoratively pierced and engraved with scrolling foliage and flowers inhabited by birds, mask to the base, pendant with flat top engraved with a grotesque mask, gold outer decorated with symmetrically placed pierced roundels, square hinge, both cases with maker’s mark IB or TB with coronet above John Banbury or Thomas Beseley
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Diameter: 57 mm
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Signed: Hen Massy London
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The movement’s quarter repeating mechanism follows, in general terms, the system developed by Daniel Quare. The baluster pillars are carefully arranged to allow room for the complex mechanism between the plates. Both cases are decoratively pierced for sound emission.

The outer case contains a delightful watch paper on which the entire Lord’s Prayer has been minutely inscribed.

Henry Massy (sometimes spelt Massey) was the son of the French protestant watchmaker Nicholas Massey. Henry was made a Brother in the Clockmakers’ Company in April 1692. Britten records that Henry Massy was at Charles St., near St James’s Square in 1707.