English gold watch with power reserve indication Circa 1885

Gold open faced lever watch by Lund & Blockley
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A heavy English 18 carat gold open faced lever pocket watch with 30-hour power reserve indicator, circa 1885.
Plain case, blue enamelled monogram on the back, case maker’s mark AS for Alfred Stram. White enamel dial with Roman numerals, outer minute divisions, power reserve indication at 12 and subsidiary seconds at 6 o’clock. 2/3 Plate movement, English lever escapement, chain/fusee, optional key- or crown-winding, gold screw compensation balance. Dial signed and numbered.
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Diameter: 53 mm
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Weight: 137 g
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Signed: Lund & Blockley to the Queen London
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The Lund & Blockley company was kind of connected to Barraud, the renowned chronometer makers, or rather their successor Barraud & Lund. Major J.A. Lund of Lund & Blockley was most likely a son of Mr Lund of Barraud & Lund. When this timepiece was made, Major Lund was mainly stationed in Bombay in India, where Lund & Blockley still traded after the end of World War II. The company of the same name at 42 Pall Mall in London was originally led by both men and later by Herbert Blockley, a former star student at the British Horological Institute, on his own. He specialized in expedition watches where the cases were sealed with cork or leather. The watches also all had a protective cap over the winding crown. They were purchased by the dozens by the Royal Geographical Society to be lent out to expedition leaders.