English gold pair cased quarter repeating verge watch Circa 1780

Gold repeating pocket watch
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An English 22 carat gold pair cased quarter repeating verge pocket watch, circa 1780. A polished à goutte outer case with a large outer hinge, the inner case with a florally engraved and pierced band, a rear bell and pusher for repetition via the pendant. White enamel dial with radial Roman hours, Arabic five minutes and gold spade hands. Frosted gilt full plate movement with applied florally engraved ornaments, key wind, chain and fusee, two hammers, solid round movement pillars, a three arm brass balance, very finely florally engraved and pierced balance cock and a diamond endstone on the balance. Dial signed, dust cap and movement signed and numbered.
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Diameter: 57 mm
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Weight: 132 g
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Signed: Eardley Norton London
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Eardley Norton was an English watch and chronometer maker of great repute born in 1728 in Lincolnshire and died in 1792. He apprenticed as a clockmaker on 25 May 1743 to Robert Dawson of Alford, in 1760, he was working in London at 49 St. John Street, Clerkenwell and was a member of the Clockmakers’ Company from 1770 until he died. He mainly made complicated timepieces but also had his name on some cheaper watches, which he signed with Yeldrae (Eardley backwards). His name was further sometimes faked on Swiss watches. In 1771, he patented a new type of striking mechanism for clocks and watches. For George III he made a Royal watch collection of which the showpiece was an astronomical clock with four dials. Norton received 1.042 pounds sterling for these watches, a considerable sum at that time. Another notable work is the musical clock he made for the Russian Tsarina Katharina.