VulliamyThree successive members of this family were active from 1730 to 1854 and although they are best known for their unsurpassed regulator clocks, they also made some excellent watches and decorative clocks.Of Swiss origin, Justin Vulliamy emigrated from Switzerland and settled in London early in the 18th century. He became associated with Benjamin Gray, of Pall Mall whose daughter he married and with whom he was in partnership from 1730 to 1775. Justin Vulliamy carried on the business after Gray's death. Benjamin Gray was appointed as clockmaker to George II, and the Vulliamy family held the office of clockmaker to the reigning sovereign until the death of Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy in 1854.Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy, the son of Justin, was much favored and consulted by George III on mechanical subjects, especially in connection with Kew Observatory, which was a hobby of the King. Born in 1780, Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy, of 68 Pall Mall, was noted for the exactness and excellent finish of his work, in both clocks and watches. He took an active interest in the Clockmakers' Company, of which he was five times Master between 1821 and 1848. In 1849 the Court presented him with a piece of plte in recognition of his services to the Company. He wrote several pamphlets on trade subjects. One of them, on the construction of the dead-beat escapement for clocks, advocated the turning of the pallets for ensuring greater exactness.He was the only maker in England producing clocks with pieces of sculpture, in bronze or marble, some of them by famous artists such as J. Bacon.The most characteristic Vulliamy watches have a duplex escapement and the whole top plate covered with a decorative pierced fret. These watches were made with little or no variation over a surprisingly long period, from before 1800 until well after 1820. Another rarer class of Vulliamy watch could almost be taken for a Breguet lever repeater, except that the centre of the gold or silver dial is matted and not engine-turned. It is highly probable that these were made for Vulliamy by Sylvain Maire. Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy died in January 1854.