English rare silver sun and moon verge watch Circa 1710

Silver pair cased sun and moon verge
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A rare English silver pair cased sun and moon verge watch, circa 1710, gilded full plate, verge escapement, decoratively pierced and engraved balance cock with engraved head at the neck, cylindrical pillars with ribbed capitals, fusee and chain, signed Ricd Williamson.
Silver champlevé dial, large aperture with rotating disc divided into day and night, the hours indicated on an outer semi circular chapter ring with Roman numerals heightened with black wax, the daytime hours indicated by a golden sun with a pointer, the night hours indicated by a silver moon with pointer against a night sky of black pitch and silver stars, outer Arabic minute ring, single blued steel hand, the lower half of the dial with scrolling foliage inhabited by birds and centred by a cartouche signed Williamson Fecit.
Plain inner and outer case, stirrup pendant and bow, outer hinge with strong chamfers, both cases with maker’s mark a coronet above WI for John Wightman.
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Diameter: 61 mm
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Signed: Ricd Williamson
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Makers at the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th century were by no means wedded to the standard dial configuration of concentric hour and minute hands, which had become more universal. As a result, some unusual dial designs were devised, particularly by English watchmakers. During this period there were four principal variations of dial design: the six hour dial, the wandering hour dial, the differential dial and, as in this instance, the sun and moon dial. On the present watch, the sun and moon point to the hours as they move across the large semi circular aperture whilst minutes are indicated by the single hand on the outer ring.
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The case, with its prominent hinge, has the mark of the London maker John Wightman, who served his apprenticeship with Jonathan Jones. Wightman registered his mark in 1697.