English pedometer wound watch in a later case Circa 1780

Significant and early pedometer wound watch
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An English significant and early pedometer wound watch according to patent 1249, in later silver-gilt case movement, circa 1780, gilded full plate movement, cylinder escapement, silver oscillating weight mounted to the backplate, balance mounted beneath the dial plate, regulator to back-plate, turned pillars, movement signed to the oscillating weight Recordon Spencer and Perkins London.
Dial later white enamel being in period with the later case, Roman numerals, gold heart-shaped hands.
Later plain silver-gilt case hallmarked 1807, Regency pendant, case maker’s mark WL incuse probably William Lewis or William Laithwait.
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Diameter: 52 mm
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Signed: Recordon Spencer and Perkins London

This is almost certainly the earliest surviving pedometer wound watch movement made according to patent number 1249, applied for by Louis Recordon on 18th March and enrolled on 17th July 1780. Although the case is later, evidence for dating the watch is provided by the mainspring which appears to be original and is signed and dated 27th May 1780 – engraving springs with the date of fitting was common practice in English watches. Two pedometer wound watches numbers 157 and 180 were in the Hornby collection. The case of 157 is undated but 180 is hallmarked for 1794.

Alfred Chapuis and Eugène Jaquet in their book, The History of the Self-Winding Watch (1956), devote a chapter to Recordon and provide a detailed and illustrated examination of patent no. 1249.

There has been much debate over the origins of the self-winding watch. The continental makers A-L. Perrelet and Hubert Sarton developed a somewhat different system from Recordon in the 1770s. Breguet developed his self-winding system in about 1780, around the same time as, but not before, Recordon and his patent. Indeed, the earliest known self-winding watch signed by Breguet is numbered 1 and is dated AD 1781.

Louis Recordon active 1778-1824 worked initially in Greek Street, Soho and later in 1797 he succeeded to Josiah Emery’s business at 33 Cockspur Street, Charing Cross. Recordon was also Breguet’s agent in London.