English silver pair cased single-handed verge with alarm Circa 1690

Silver verge watch in pair cases by Daniel Quare
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An early English silver pair-cased single-handed verge clock watch with alarm, circa 1690.
This watch has a verge movement with tulip pillars and a beautifully decorated barrel. The champlevé dial features Roman radial hours, half-hour markers, a central alarm disc, and steel hands for both the time and alarm functions. The outer and inner cases are masterfully pierced and engraved. The movement is signed by QVARE/LONDON. Probably not from the real Daniel Quare.
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Diameter: 54 mm
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Signed: Quare London
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Daniel Quare was a highly esteemed English watchmaker. Born circa 1647 in Somerset, and died August 1724. He was admitted to the Clockmakers’ Company in 1671, becoming a master in 1708. Quare established himself as an important horological innovator by inventing a type of repeating work around 1680. Whilst he was developing his repeating mechanism, his rival, Edward Barlow, was developing his version. Barlow had invented the rack form of striking in 1676, and in 1685, Thomas Tompion made a watch for Barlow that incorporated the latter’s repeating system. Three years later, in 1688, Quare and Barlow presented their different forms of repeating watches to King James II so that he might declare which he regarded the superior. The King favoured Quare’s form, noting that Barlow’s required two pushers, one for the hour strike and one for the quarters, whilst Quare’s single push-piece activated both the hours and quarters.