Dutch silver oval pair cased alarm watch Circa 1600-1648

A Dutch silver oval pair cased alarm watch, 17th Century, with later alterations. Gilt oval two train movement with verge escapement, replaced balance cock, split Egyptian pillars. Silver oval dial, Roman numerals, single hand, the dial plate engraved with scrolls, a grotesque mask and what is likely a later inscription of Oliver Cromwell 1648, later central alarm disc. The substantial oval case with band pierced and engraved with foliate scrolls, the back centered by an openwork rosette and two shuttered winding holes, associated shagreen outer case, the bezel modified.
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Length: 70 mm
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Signed: Bockels Haarlem
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Watches by Bockels (or Bockelts, an alternative spelling) are known in both the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Baillie notes this maker as working in the first half of the 17th century. For an illustration of a watch by Jan Jenssen Bockelts, circa 1600, see Thompson, D., The British Museum Watches, pp. 22-23. The present watch appeared on the cover of the 1897 catalogue of the Evan Roberts Collection.