English rare silver verge watch with Franklin dial Circa 1808

Rare silver pair cased verge watch with Franklin dial
–
An English extremely rare silver pair cased verge watch with Franklin dial, circa 1808, gilded full plate movement, verge escapement, decoratively pierced balance cock engraved with a plume of feathers and grotesque mask at the neck, the silver regulation disc with an applied gilded indicator in the form of a ruffed hand, flat three-arm balance, fusee and chain, cylindrical pillars, signed  Jas. Poynard, Strood.
White enamel Franklin type dial, divided into quarters at 12 o’clock XII, IIII, VIII, at 3 o’clock I, V, IX, at 6 o’clock II, VI, X, at 9 o’clock III, VII, XI, further inner division to indicate current cycle with short indication hand.
Plain silver pair cases, the inner with winding aperture to back, both cases with maker’s mark WH incuse for William Hodsall or Hammon .
–
Diameter: 57 mm
–
Signed: Jas. Poynard Strood
–
Known as a Franklin dial, this unique configuration was invented by Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) in an attempt to simplify the mechanism of a clock. Franklin visited London many times and developed a friendship with James Ferguson, the astronomer. Ferguson designed many astronomical clocks and most likely inspired Benjamin Franklin to try his hand. He designed his simplified clock in 1757. On the clock, the minute hand revolves once every four hours, while a ball bearing, on a spiral track at the center of the dial, indicates the hours. The clock was originally mentioned in Ferguson’s Select Mechanical Exercises (1773). This watch is a very rare example of the application of a Franklin dial to a watch. Whilst the minutes are indicated as normal to the outer ring, the 12 Roman hour numerals are grouped in threes at each quarter and are read in sequence off the spade hour hand. The short central hand indicates the group to be read, either 1, 2 or 3.