English gold half hunting cased carrousel watch Circa 1897

Gold half hunter with carrousel by Wales & McCulloch
–
An English 18-carat gold half hunting cased lever pocket watch with Bonniksen carrousel revolving in 52½ minutes, circa 1897. Formerly with Kew A certificate of the Kew/Teddington observatory 82.1 Marks Especially Good.
3/4 Plate movement, English lever escapement, gold screwed compensation balance. White enamel dial with Roman numerals, subsidiary seconds and blued hands. Plain case, maker’s punch mark EM for Edward Matthews, Clerkenwell. Dial and movement signed and numbered.
–
Diameter: 51 mm
–
Weight: 125 g
–
Signed: Wales & McCulloch 20 Ludgate Hill London
–
Wales & McCulloch
The company Wales & McCulloch has existed in London since 1862. The first address was 32 Ludgate Street, from 1862 until 1869 the company had premises at 56 Cheapside, it moved to 22 Ludgate Hill later. From 1890 until 1910 the company address was 20 Ludgate Hill. Tony Mercer lists Wales & McCulloch in ‘Chronometer Makers of the World’ as a manufacturer as well as retailer and supplier to the Admiralty. For this watch, Wales & McCulloch used a finished movement produced by the watch industry Bonniksen had revived in Coventry and fitted it with a dial and a case before selling it. The company is recorded as having supplied the British navy with deck watches from 1896 until 1914, one of them, No. 121654 in 1909, was even a tourbillon.