English silver 34 minute carrousel chronograph Circa 1906

Silver open-faced chronograph with 34-minute carrousel
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A fine English open-faced 34-minute carrousel keyless chronograph watch, circa 1906.
Gilded 3/4 plate movement, 34-minute carrousel with lever escapement, bimetallic compensation balance, three pressure action chronograph mechanism visible to the backplate, engraved with an Admiralty broad arrow.
White enamel dial with Roman numerals, outer Arabic minute ring calibrated to fifths of a second, recessed subsidiary dials for constant seconds and 30-minute register.
Silver case, replaced plain polished back, maker’s mark ATO for Albert Thomas Oliver, silver bow and pendant with maker’s mark CH for Charles Hill, gilt crown and hand-set button, the button with gilded protective shoulders. Plain polished silver cuvette, with maker’s mark T.C for possibly Thomas Cleaver or Thomas Cob. Dial signed, movement numbered.
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Diameter: 56 mm
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Signed: Douglas English Patent
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The body and cuvette on the present watch appear to be original while the original back, which would have been engraved with the Admiralty mark and hallmarked 1937, was presumably replaced following the Admiralty’s disposal of the watch. It is possible that the pendant and bow, which is some seven years earlier than the watch, was taken from existing stock or otherwise it is a very suitable replacement.
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This watch was purchased by the Admiralty for £ 25 in October 1909, only one other watch of this type, which is also signed by Douglas, is known. During the First World War, there are records showing the watch being sent back and forth between the Admiralty and Usher and Cole Ltd. Douglas having already retired by this date. It was subsequently issued to H.M.S. Cyclops in May 1918 which, together with H.M.S. Victorious, was based at Scapa Flow to assist in the fitting of the Dreyer firing system to all Dreadnought battleships. The chronograph would have been an essential piece of equipment to help calculate the speed of shells whilst in flight.
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William Henry Douglas (1837-1913) was a watchmaker based in the West Midlands town of Stourbridge. He registered a total of 11 patents of which seven are relevant to this watch. The first patent was for a chronograph mechanism (number 2500 of June 1880) and the last for a carrousel (or as he termed it, a tourbillon), this latter patent was granted in January 1907 as number 6858. Douglas stated that “…The object of this invention is to provide for the arrangement of a tourbillon with an ordinary watch …without any material modification …and for the convenient combination with the same as a chronograph”.