Rare English sterling silver pair cased coach clock Circa 1811

Silver pair cased key winding coach watch
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A fine and exceptionally heavy English sterling silver pair cased verge coach clock watch with heavy chain made by James Swingler in Grantham, circa 1811. This watch has a mechanical key winding fire gilt brass full plate movement with a verge fusee escapement, a chain and fusee, a three arm steel balance, a chatoned diamond endstone on the balance, and an intricately pierced and engraved balance cock decorated with a detailed mascaron and scrollwork, signed Ja’s Swingler Grantham. The white enamel dial shows elegant black Arabic numerals for the hours, fine outer minute dots interspersed with delicate star motifs at the quarters, and original gold arrow style hands.
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The timepiece is housed in an exceptionally substantial round two body, with a smooth, plain, polished sterling silver inner case bearing the case maker’s punch mark MA (ascribed to the workshop of Mary Atkins) and a single winding aperture on the reverse. It is protected by a matching smooth solid silver outer case featuring a prominent five piece lateral hinge, bearing the London hallmark for 1811. The watch is accompanied by an extremely heavy, matching solid silver Cuban link pocket watch chain. (365 mm, 135 gr.)
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Diameter: 66 mm
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Weight: 567 g
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Signed: James Swingler Grantham
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James Swingler was an English clock and watchmaker active in Westgate, Grantham, around the turn of the 19th century. This timepiece is a remarkable and rare example of an English coach clock, or carriage watch, named for its monumental proportions and massive weight, which far exceed those of a standard gentleman’s pocket watch. Weighing over half a kilogram without its chain, it was designed to withstand the heavy vibrations of travel and to be hung inside a carriage or coach to tell the time on long journeys. Swingler’s horological career in Lincolnshire ended in February 1825 when his bankruptcy notice was published in the London Gazette.