English gold cylinder watch by George Graham circa 1727

Gold single cased very early cylinder watch
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An English rare and fine gold single cased very early cylinder watch, circa 1727, gilded full plate movement, cylinder escapement, decoratively pierced and engraved balance cock with a head at the neck, balance staff with diamond endstones to top and bottom, fusee and chain, Egyptian pillars, signed Geo. Graham, London, signed gilt metal dust cap with a secret catch.
Gold champlevé dial, Roman numerals with inner half-hour divisions, outer Arabic minute ring, blued steel beetle and poker hands, the minute hand stepped to clear the winding square.
Gold case, the back with the crest of an eagle above a monogram, with maker’s mark WS for William Sherwood possibly junior
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Diameter: 49 mm
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Signed: Geo. Graham London
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George Graham is credited with developing the cylinder escapement in 1726. Although he did not formally protect his ‘invention’, in this very early example of his cylinder escapement, Graham clearly attempts to restrict access to the mechanism; the dust cap can only be removed to reveal the movement when a secret catch is activated via a pinhole to the edge of the cap. Graham has advantageously fitted this movement with a diamond endstone to the top and bottom of the balance staff, the escape wheel is brass, and the cylinder steel.

George Graham 1673-1751, is one of England’s most renowned clock and watchmakers. He was apprenticed in 1688 to Henry Aske and, when freed in 1695, appears almost immediately to have entered the service of Thomas Tompion.  He married one of Tompion’s nieces in 1704 and became his partner in c.1711, succeeding in the business upon Tompion’s death in 1713. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1721 and Master of the Clockmakers’ Company in 1722. Graham died in 1751 and, as a sign of the great respect in which he was held, Tompion’s grave in Westminster Abbey was opened to receive the body of his former partner.