D. Quare

D. Quare, London, No. 253, circa 1700. Rare and fine, silver pair cased, early quarter repeating watch. Outer, double body in polished silver, pierced with roundels. Inner, double body, bassine in silver, pierced and engraved with inhabited foliage and a mask, rope twist pattern stirrup bow. Champleve silver, with Roman numerals and outer Arabic minute ring, regulator aperture on XI. Blued steel poker and beetle hands. GiIt brass, full plate with turned baluster pillars, fusee and chain, verge escapement, plain steel three armed balance, gilt brass English cock. Repeating on a bell by depressing the pendant. Signed on the dial and movement. In very good condition. Diam. 57mm. Notes Very fine example of the quarter repeating watches produced by Daniel Quare as early as 1686. This eminent maker was the inventor of a quarter repeating mechanism for watches, for which in 1686, James Il granted a patent, considering it in his opinion to be superior to Barlow's mechanism, invented in the same year. Repeating watches made by D. Quare are known to be numbered from 109 to 857. An other invention of Quare is the regulator aperture with operating square at 11 o' clock, in order to be able to regulate the watch without hinging the movement out of the case. The rope-twist pattern stirrup bow is an other feature, typical of D. Quare work.