English gilt watch with repoussé decoration Circa 1745

Pocket watch with outer case with relief
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A repoussé double case verge watch made by George Graham in London, England, circa 1745. The outer back lid of this gold plated watch has a relief decoration and the white enamel dial has Arabic five minute- and Roman hour numerals and black steel hands. The gilded full plate movement has a verge escapement, a pierced and engraved balance cock, a silver regulator disc and Egyptian pillars.
The movement is signed.
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Diameter: 50 mm
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Weight: 91 g
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Signed: Graham, London
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George Graham
George Graham was born on July 7^th, 1673, maybe 1675 in Kirkliston, Cumberland and he died on November 16^th, 1751. He was one of England’s most renowned clock and watchmakers, an inventor and geophysicist, and a Fellow of the Royal Society. Further a Quaker like his mentor Thomas Tompion, Graham left Cumberland in 1688 for London to work with Tompion. He later married Tompion’s niece, Elizabeth Tompion. Graham is credited with inventing several design improvements to the pendulum clock, inventing the mercury pendulum and also the orrery, a mechanical model of the Solar system that illustrates or predicts the relative positions and motions of the planets and moons. He was made Master of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers in 1722. Between 1730 and 1738, Graham had as an apprentice Thomas Mudge who went on to be an eminent watchmaker in his own right and invented the lever escapement, an important development for pocket watches. Graham was introduced to John Harisson on the latter’s arrival in London and became a long time advisor and supporter of Harrison’s work on a marine chronometer. He was also widely acquainted with practical astronomy, invented many valuable astronomical instruments and improved others. On his death, as a sign of the great respect in which Graham was held, Tompion’s grave in Westminster Abbey was opened to receive the body of his former partner.