European Baroque Watch

Description

Our watch adaptation is based on a handsome silver watch and pair case in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, made in Germany or Switzerland (ca. 1700). The engraved and pierced watch with a brass pair case has two concentric chapter rings separated by a band of decorative ornament: the outer ring with Roman numerals, the inner ring with Arabic numerals. The movement with alarm is signed “Quare London,” making it a contemporary forgery of the eminent London clockmaker, Daniel Quare (1649–1724).

Produced in cooperation with the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Stainless steel and gold overlay case and link bracelet. Quartz movement. Case: 1 1/2'' diam.; inner circumference: 8'' (adjustable).

Art History

By 1600, two varieties of watches were well established in western Europe: the watch that was primarily a piece of jewelry that incidentally told the time, and the watch that was mainly a source of information about the time of day, day of the month, or phase of the moon.