English gilded brass clock watch with alarm Circa 1600

Gilded brass verge watch by Nicholas Vallin
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A rare and beautiful English gilded brass clock watch with alarm, circa 1600.
This antique clock features a gilded brass movement with an iron alarm train and a verge escapement. The brass dial is fire gilt and intricately engraved with grotesque decor and flower scrolls around the edge. There is a silver chapter ring with radial Roman hours and a turntable silver alarm disc with Roman numerals at the centre, controlled by a single iron hand. The clock is housed in a large tambour-shaped case with a hinged front cover that reveals the hour markers through pierced openings. The band is decorated with pierced foliage, while the back features engraved floral and foliage decoration. The movement is attributed to Nicholas Vallin, a Flemish clockmaker who was active around 1590 and died in 1603. His signature can be found on the movement, which reads N. Vallin at London.
The watch, which has a verge escapement, runs a little more than twenty-four hours per each winding, and originally it struck the hours in passing (a single blow on the bell at each hour).
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Diameter: 64 mm
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Signed: N. Vallin at London
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The son of the Flemish clockmaker John Vallin (ca. 1535–1603), Nicolas became London’s leading clock- and watchmaker. Both John and Nicolas emigrated to England, probably shortly before 1590 and undoubtedly as the result of political troubles in The Netherlands. Both father and son died in the London plague epidemic of 1603.