English quarter repeating gold and enamel watch Circa 1810

Gold and enamel triple-cased lever watch by Markwick Markham & Borrell
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A rare English gold and enamel triple-cased quarter repeating lever pocket watch made for the Ottoman market, circa 1810.
Signed, fire gilt full plate movement, key-wound, applied florally engraved ornaments, two hammers, three-arm steel balance, finely florally engraved balance cock, chatoned diamond endstone on balance.
White enamel dial with radial Ottoman numerals, gold poker & beetle hands. Gold transport case, the scalloped edge with polychrome champlevé enamel flower decoration, partly translucent and opaque enamelled, glazed back, large lateral hinge, the outer case gold, the scalloped edge also with polychrome champlevé enamel flower decoration, partly translucent and opaque enamelled, in the centre on the back a waved cartouche depicting a harbour scene framed by a translucent red and opaque green enamelled border, large lateral hinge, the inner case also gold, lavish hand engraved and pierced border, red and white enamelled flowers, in the centre a waved plaque with a bouquet of summer flowers against an apple-green background, the bezel and pendant polychrome enamel, diamond-set pusher for repetition through the pendant, rear bell.
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Diameter: 46 mm
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Weight: 93 g
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Signed: Markwick Markham & Borrell London
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James Markwick and his son James were both fine watchmakers and worked in London. The elder was apprenticed on 25 June 1656 to Richard Taylor, and subsequently to Edward Gilpin. He became free of the Clockmakers’ Company on 6 August 1666. Six apprentices were bound to him between 1674 and 1699. In 1673 he succeeded the business of Samuel Betts behind the Royal Exchange. Although he held office in the Clockmakers’ Company, he was irregular in attendance, ceasing to tend to its affairs after 1700. He worked until at least 1706. His son, James Markwick Jr., became free of the Company in 1692 by patrimony. The younger James Markwick was an eminent maker, Master of the Clockmakers’ Company in 1720 and a very early user of jewelled bearings. In later years he was in partnership with his son-in-law Robert Markham, who succeeded him using the trading name of Markwick Markham, which became famous for watches destined for the Turkish market. Not only did this notoriety encourage the appearance of spuriously signed watches, but at the end of the century Markham, or his successor, associated the names of other watchmakers with their own products intended for the East. The makers thus found associated are Francis Perigal, Peter Upjohn, H. Story, Borrell, John Johnson, Louis Recordon, Dupont. All were reputable watchmakers in their own right, selling other products under their own names.