English triple cased watch with tortoiseshell case Circa 1780

Silver verge sun and moon watch
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A rare English silver and tortoiseshell triple cased sun and moon watch, circa 1780. Gilt full plate movement, verge escapement, fusée and chain, decoratively pierced and engraved balance cock and foot, flat three arm balance, flared pillars. Silver champlevé dial, large aperture with rotating disc divided into day and night, the hours indicated on an outer semi circular chapter ring with Roman numerals, the daytime hours indicated by a gilt sun with pointer, the night hours indicated by the moon with pointer, outer Arabic minute track, single gilt hand. Plain silver inner and middle case, winding aperture to back, both inner and middle cases with maker’s mark TC, tortoiseshell outer case with silver rondels. Dial and movement signed Cabrier London, case with London hallmarks for 1780.
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Diameter: 64 mm
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Signed: Cabrier London
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English watchmakers at the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th century began experimenting with unusual dial designs for their pieces. During this period there were four principal variations of dial design: the six hour dial, the wandering hour dial, the differential dial and, as on the present piece, the sun and moon dial. On this watch, the sun and moon point to the hours as they move across the large semi circular aperture, whilst minutes are indicated by the single hand on the outer ring.