English silver pair cased automaton pocket watch Circa 1802

English watch with automaton windmill
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An English silver pair cased automaton watch with enamel painting, made by John Edward Lawson London, circa 1802. The open faced plain case is key winding and has London Hallmarks from 1802. Inside the pair case, a 19th century watch paper by D. Smith, Reading, Berkshire. A white enamel dial, outer ring with black Arabic numerals for the hours and in the center, a multicoloured enamel painting representing a farmer in front of his mill and the sails of the mill moving, and depicting the seconds in a subsidiary dial at twelve o’clock. Yellow gold Pear hands. A gilded brass movement, fusee and chain, verge escapement, monometallic balance, polished steel and blued steel flat hairspring, pierced and engraved gilded English cock with a mask of grotesqueness and foliage. The movement is signed.
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Diameter: 56 mm
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Weight: 120 g
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Signed: John Edward Lawson, London
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Pair cased
Pair cased pocket watches were common throughout the 1700s. An inner case holds the watch movement, with an additional outer case that encloses and protects the inner case. The outer case would provide protection from dirt and dust, since the inner cases of key wound watches lacked such coverage. To identify a pair cased pocket watch, look for these characteristics: an inner case that holds the watch movement and an outer case that encloses and protects the inner case. The outer case may be made of a different material than the inner case, and it may have decorative elements such as engraving or embossing.