Thomas Cummins

Thomas Cummins, London, Invenit et Fecit, No. 4=25, made for I.W. Smith, 8 Grays Inn Square, hallmarked 1824-25.Extremely fine and rare 18K gold pocket chronometer with special escapement and regulator dial. Four-body, "Empire", engine-turned back, central oval cartouche with engraved peacock head, engine-turned band, polished bezel, gold hinged cuvette. Notes One very rarely finds a watch in which so much effort was put into the finishing. The British were famous for their finishing. George Abbott's detents, including the spring, can be easily distinguished by their black polish; Abbott was more highly paid than any other detent maker of the period. William Sills finished all the steel parts in black polish. Many others, however, remain anonymous. Although in continental watches one can find similar finishing in the work of Potter, for instance (seeot 29 in Antiquorum's catalogue "A Tribute to Precision and Complicated Timepieces", November 11, 2001), generally it was a British specialty. This present watch confirms it clearly; the roller jewel is concave on both sides in order to give less friction on the fork, the roller table is undercut on each side so only the small part of the center would touch the end of the fork during a shock, the fork, which was made of gold, has a triangular cut on each side of the impulse slot and the action ithat of Massey type IV but with less friction. Many other parts of the watch hide those little surprises left for us by an app Read more…