Important English watch with rack lever escapement Circa 1810

Watch with rack lever escapement Number 1 by Robert Roskell
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An important English 18 carat rose gold pair cased pocket watch with rack lever escapement, according to Peter Litherland, Work Number 1, circa 1810.
Full plate movement, key wind, chatoned large bearing stones Liverpool windows, rack lever escapement, three arm steel balance. Off-white enamel dial with Roman radial hours, outer minutes track, subsidiary dial for the seconds, and gold spade-style hands. Double cased polished outer case – 18 carat rose gold and polished inner case. Movement with protection cap.
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Diameter: 57 mm
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Weight: 145 g
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Signed: Robert Roskell Liverpool
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For the collector of English watches or, more rarely, escapements, this piece is a real highlight, as it is the first manufactured example of a pocket watch by the important Liverpool watchmaker Robert Roskell with the rare experimental escapement.
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Robert Roskell was a qualified small and large clockmaker in Liverpool and London. Through various partnerships and takeovers he signed with: “Robert & Son”, “Hunt & Roskell”, “Robert Roskell Liverpool” or “Roskell Liverpool”.
Clocks and chronometers by Robert Roskell can be found in several well-known museums, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Powerhouse Museum, Melbourne Museum – Museum Victoria, National Maritime Museum & Royal Observatory.
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Peter Litherland, English watchmaker based in Liverpool
Peter Litherland was born in 1756 in Warrington, 16 miles east of Liverpool. He later moved to Liverpool, then the capital of watchmaking. He is the inventor of the anchor gear with a rack, Patented in 1794. Patent No. 1830, London. This was more accurate than the verge escapement commonly used. He founded the Litherland company in Liverpool in 1790. When he died in 1804, he was only 49 years old. After his death, the company was renamed Litherland & Co, a few years later, Litherland Whiteside & Company and from 1816, Litherland, Davies & Co.
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Reference 0018000