English large 18K gold pair cased verge watch Circa 1800

Pocket watch with repetition on a bell
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A large pair cased verge pocket watch with repetition on a bell made by Eardley Norton in London, England, circa  1800. The open faced inner case is made of 18 carat gold and the, probably, later metal protective case is covered with leather. The inner case has very fine pierced sound openings, a slide to turn off the repeater, a bell and an original dust cover. The white enamel dial has Roman hour numerals, an outer minute track with Arabic quarter hours and fine original arrow hands which are made of rose gold. The magnificently engraved movement has a verge escapement repeating the hour and quarter hours.
The dial is signed.
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Diameter: 60 mm
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Weight: 153 g
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Signed: Eardley Norton London
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Norton
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 May 25th, 1743 to Robert Dawson of Alford. In 1760, he was working in London at 49 John Street, Clerkenwell and he 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.