Important Modern & Vintage Timepieces
Hong Kong, Jul 23, 2020
LOT 26
B. J. Warner, Royal Polytechnic Institution
Pocket watch; 18K yellow gold
HKD 32,000 - 40,000
CHF 4,000 - 5,000 / USD 4,200 - 5,300
18K yellow gold, open-face, key-winding, round-shaped, pocket watch, with subsidiary seconds at 6.
Case with cast, chased and engraved, bezel and border; case-back guilloché (engine-turned).
White enamel dial with radial Roman numerals; blued steel “Spade” hands.
Movement 18’’’, full plate, gilded brass, turned baluster pillars, fusee and chain, maintaining power, English lateral lever escapement, cut bimetallic compensated balance with gold poising screws and blued steel flat hairspring, engraved gilded English cock, diamond end-stone in a blued steel setting, polished steel index regulator; gilded brass sprung dust ring (stamped “I•B”).
| Grading System | |
|---|---|
Grade: AA |
Very good |
Case: 2 |
Very good |
Movement: 2* |
Very good Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense |
Dial: 2-01 |
Very good HANDS Original |
Brand B. J. Warner, Royal Polytechnic Institution, London
Year circa 1860-1870
Movement No. 1 242
Case No. 4 651 / 4 (by “T H”, London)
Caliber 18’’’, lateral lever escapement
Dimensions Ø 50.6 mm.
Signature movement
Notes
Warner, B. J., and the Royal Polytechnic Institution, London
B. J. Warner was a watchmaker and jeweller active in London, 25, Stanhope Street, Regent’s Park, and at the Polytechnic Institution, Regent Street (No. 309), in the middle of the 19th century.
The Polytechnic Institution was not a technical college but a showplace for recent developments in science and technology, a kind of museum of contemporary science.
This institution was founded in 1838 as the “Royal Polytechnic Institution for the Advancement of the Arts and Practical Science”. In 1881, following setbacks, it was transformed into a university and renamed “Regent Street Polytechnic”. In 1970, it became the “Polytechnic of Central London” (PCL), a name it kept until 1992 when it was renamed the “University of Westminster”.