Fine English gold pair cased pocket watch Circa 1720-1730

Gold verge pocket watch by William Webster
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A fine English gold pair cased pocket watch, circa 1720-1730.
Gilded full plate movement, verge escapement, decoratively pierced and engraved masked balance cock, fusee and chain. Enamel dial with Roman radial hours, outer minutes track with Arabic five minutes numerals, and blued beetle & poker hands. Gold cases: plain pierced inner case; engraved, engine turned, pierced outer case with monogram. Movement signed.
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Diameter: 51 mm
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Signed: William Webster, Exchange Alley 1163
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William Webster, English watchmaker
William Webster was based in Exchange Alley, London.
Webster became a watchmaker’s apprentice to John Barnett in March 1702; John Barnett was his uncle and brother of Elizabeth Webster’s mother. However, his teacher died half a year later. William Webster worked with Thomas Tompion and possibly also completed his apprenticeship here. At Thomas Tompion, he became a specially skilled worker. From July 3, 1710, he was acquitted, and a member of the Clockmakers Company, he opened his shop on Exchange Alley in 1711. Four days after Tompion’s death, Webster advertised that he was Tompion’s apprentice and had “learned all the secrets of the trade” (“fully acquainted with his secrets in the said art). He worked in the “Dial and Three Crowns” on Exchange Alley. He later became Junior Warden of the Clockmakers Company in 1734. William Webster was the father of William Junior.
Webster died at the Clockmakers Company office on August 13, 1735.