Fine English 20 carat gold pair cased verge watch Circa 1717

Fine gold pair cased verge watch
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A fine English gold pair cased verge watch, circa 1717,  gilded full plate movement, verge escapement, decoratively pierced balance cock engraved with foliage and a head at the neck, the foot similarly decorated, flat balance, ruby endstone, a coiled snake indicating upon a silver regulation plate, ruby endstone, fusee and chain, baluster pillars, signed John Wright, London
Gold champlevé dial, Roman numerals with half-hour divisions between and to the inner ring, outer Arabic minute ring, blued steel beetle and poker hands, cartouches to the center signed Wright, London, all against a stippled ground
Plain gold inner case, the back with winding aperture, gold outer case, the back with the arms of the Earls of Oxford and Mortimer, square hinge, both cases with maker’s mark IB with coronet above for John Banbury
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Diameter: 51 mm
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Signed: John Wright London
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The high-quality movement of this watch has quite early ruby bearings and end-caps for the balance. Engraved to the outer case back are the arms of the Earls of Oxford and Mortimer, a peerage created for Robert Harley in 1711. Robert Harley (1661-1724) and his son Edward (1689-1741) formed an important collection of books and manuscripts, known as the Harleian Library. Consisting of many thousands of manuscripts, the Harley Collection was sold to the British Government by Edward Harley’s widow in 1753 and is now housed at the British Library.