English gold pocket watch London watch with alarm Circa 1685

Early single hand neck pocket watch
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An extremely rare, large, early, single hand London neck pocket watch with alarm, made by Henry Godfrey in London, England, circa 1685. The golden florally designed housing open faced case of this watch is pierced and has a bell. The golden, grained dial has an outer ring with Roman numerals for the hours, an alarm clock disc in the middle with Arabic numerals and a blued steel hand. The movement has a very early spindle escapement with a spiral, two barrels, a chain and fusee, a barrel for the striking mechanism, which is also pierced and unusual and rare vase pillars.
Movement signed.
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Diameter: 59 mm
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Weight: 191 g
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Signed: Henry Godfrey, In the Strand London
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Henry Godfrey

Henry Godfrey was a Freeman of the Clockmakers’ Company between 1685 and 1707. Britten, in his Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers, describes an entry in the London Gazette of 7-10^th October 1700: “A pretty large sized pendulum watch in a tortoiseshell case; it shows the hours and minutes with a sun and moon dial plate, made by Henry Godfrey, London.”

A watch with six hour dial by Godfrey is illustrated in the Camerer Cuss book of Antique Watches, p. 78, pl. 29.