There are relatively few English watches surviving that we can date to the first half of the XVllth century, and of these only a handful are in gold and enamel. Examining the inventories of property belonging to the Queen Elizabeth I, shows that she was in possession of a fair number of both small clocks and watches mounted in gold with enamel and even precious stones. England was not a major center for either horology or enamelling at the time, but the fact that so very few have survived may well be explained by the political circumstances. England was ravaged by civil war during the reign of Charles I, and it is well known that he "cashed in" many of the Crown's possessions particularly jewels and plate to pay the campaigns. Following the defeat of the Royalists and the King execution, the puritan period under Cromwell virtually forbade the wearing or even making of such luxury objects, and even more examples were likely to have been scrapped to provide funds for impoverished aristocrats. John Stileman is recorded as a Brother of the Clockmakers Company in 1640, but the evidence points to this watch being made somewhat earlier, as the style of the case and particularly the enamelling (close to German and French work from circa 1600) would indicate a date in the first quarter of the XVllth century. The apparent inconsistency of the recorded date may be explained by the title "Brother" as distinct from Freoman or Liveryman. If was the case that craftsman belonging to another Company (here the most likely would be the Goldsmith's) could be made a Brother if their work brought them into an allied trade.