English large heavy pair cased verge pocket watch Circa 1714

Large gold verge pocket watch by Joshua Allsop
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A large, heavy 22 carat gold English pair cased verge pocket watch, circa 1714.
Two cases: a 22 carat gold, polished, outer case with a large lateral hinge; and a 22-carat inner case with a case maker’s punch mark JA. Signed gold, champlevé dial with inlaid radial Roman numerals and blued steel Poker & Beetle hands. Fine signed full plate movement, keywind, fire gilt, applied florally engraved ornaments, chain/fusee, Egyptian movement pillars, three-arm steel balance, and a very finely engraved pierced balance cock with cherub face.
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Diameter: 58 mm
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Weight: 150 g
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Signed: Joshua Allsop, East Smithfield, London
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Joshua Allsop, English watchmaker Joshua
Allsop’s birthdate is unknown, but he died in 1724. He did his apprenticeship in Northamptonshire and married Martha Watts at St. Marylebone’s Church in London in 1686. He is first mentioned as a clockmaker and brother in the Clockmakers’ Company in 1689 and took his first apprentice in 1693. Not much is known about Joshua Allsop’s life except that he had an outstanding sense of quality – that much is obvious from the few clocks and pocket watches by Allsop that have survived. He was certainly in no way inferior to the grand and famous London makers of his time.