English gold pump wind Massey type lever watch Circa 1816

Gold pump wind Massey type lever watch
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An English gold open faced pump wind Massey type lever watch, circa 1816, gilded full plate movement, lever escapement with Massey ‘Type I’ roller, ratchet toothed escape wheel, plain steel three arm balance, decoratively engraved balance cock signed Massey’s Patent, diamond end stone, Bosley’s form of regulation, standing barrel, cylindrical pillars, movement signed Waight, Birmingham. Dial, gold, chapter ring with polished Roman numerals against a stippled ground, outer minute ring, decoratively engine turned center, gold spade hands. Gold, engine turned case back, ribbed band, case back with London 18 Carat gold and with maker’s mark LC incuse with scroll above for Louis Comtesse.
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Diameter: 50 mm
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Signed: Waight Birmingham

Signed by William Waight, this watch incorporates Massey’s Patent. Edward Massey, a Coventry maker, was born in 1772. In November 1814, Massey was granted patent 3854 to cover both his first form of lever escapement and his pump winding mechanism. The winding is activated by a ratchet mounted on the going barrel arbor which is wound by a spring loaded rack operated when the pendant is depressed. Massey’s contribution to the development of the lever escapement was important as he was the first maker to introduce a simple and reasonably priced version of the escapement, thereby helping to transform the escapement’s commercial potential and reviving the lever’s development which had stalled since the end of the 18th century. For further information see Alan Treherne, The Massey Family, museum exhibition catalog, Newcastle-under-Lyme, 1977.