English gold full hunter watch with one minute tourbillon Circa 1918

Gold tourbillon watch by Northern Goldsmiths Co.
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A rare and fine English gold hunting cased key less one minute tourbillon pocket watch, circa 1918. The watch features a gilded ¾ plate movement with a lever escapement mounted within a one minute tourbillon cage. It has a steel three arm cage, a ruby end stone and a Sydney Beatty first style tourbillon. The dial is a Willis type of cream enamel with Arabic hour numerals, an outer minute ring, subsidiary seconds at 6 o’clock and spade hands. The watch is housed in an 18 carat gold full hunter case with plain polished covers, has a gold olivette and is hallmarked London 1918. The maker’s mark is NG Co. for The Northern Goldsmiths Co. The watch also has a glazed cuvette, gold pendant and bow.
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Diameter: 55 mm
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Signed: Northern Goldsmiths Co Newcastle
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The off-white enamel dial of this watch features the recognisable creamy colour and style of Frederick Willis, known for producing high quality dials and cases supplied to the top English watchmakers for their most prestigious timepieces.
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Reinhard Meis, in his book Das Tourbillon, documented eight pieces created by The Northern Goldsmith’s company. The present lot is featured on Page 225. According to Meis, all of these watches featured carriages supplied and finished by the extraordinarily talented but short lived Sydney Better from Clerkenwell, only between 1917 and 1922. The craftsmanship of a tourbillon was so costly and time consuming that it was generally only undertaken in relatively small series, especially following the great financial depression when funding for such projects was scarce. Sydney Better also tended to work alone, resulting in a very small output. He created two different types of tourbillon, either Better 1 with a three arm carriage and double armed bridge, such as the present watch, and Better 2 with straight carriage arms and eccentric balance. He died in poverty shortly after his contract with the Northern Goldsmiths was terminated.