English fire gilded verge watch with pedometer Circa 1799

Gilt splendidly decorated pedometer watch 
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A rare horse rider’s pedometer watch made by Ralph Gout in London, England, circa 1799. The splendidly decorated, shaped outer case was crafted from fire gilt. The back is numbered and has a hook for saddle mounting, movable protection for the pocket watch on the face, and at the top, a fastening loop for the pedometer function. The gilt case of the watch is polished and bears maker’s mark IN. The white enamel dial has an outer 0-100 pedometer scale, time indication with radial Roman hours, minute dot divisions and outer Arabic five minute numerals in the upper half, and two subsidiary dials, 0-10 and 0-100 in the lower half, each with a pink gold hand. The finely engraved gilt full plate movement has a verge escapement, pierced and engraved balance cock, diamond end stone and silver regulation. The dust cap is decoratively engraved and is signed Ralph Gout London 197, the movement and outer case have further matching numbers, the dial and movement are signed Ralph Gout London By the King’s Letters Patent 197.
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Diameter: 55 mm
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Weight: 142 g
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Signed: Ralph Gout London By the King’s letters Patent 197
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The pedometer watch was developed by Ralph Gout and usable while horse riding. The base plate op the outer case can be attached to the saddle. The watch itself swings up and down when the horse moves, and thus registers the number of steps. The patent was registered under No. 2351 on November 4th, 1799.

These watches are extremely rare. There are fewer than ten known examples with the pedometer outer case still present.

The condition of the piece presented here is of museum quality! One known example is in the Rosenbach Museum, another in the Victoria & Albert Museum and the British Museum.
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Gout
Ralph Gout, circa 1770-1836, was a native of Switzerland who lived and worked in London. He was known as a skilled watchmaker and had his workshop at 6, Norman Street, Old Street in London. He was bankrupt in 1796, but managed to get his business back up and going. He made many timepieces including pedometer watches for the Spanish as well as the Indian market.