The case is identical to the one in the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers in Guildhall, London, which houses a movement by William Clay. Cases representing subjects which were particularly in vogue were often purchased by the major watchmakers, who made their own movements especially to fit them.The shape of the watch is typical of the period. Evans, in his "History of Jewelry", as quoted by Dr. Hans Boeckh, states: "Gesner saw the first tulip in flower in Augsburg in 1559 and published the first picture of it in 1561. It took 75 years for the flower to conquer Europe". In 1593, botanist Carolus Clusius brought tulips from Constantinople to the University of Leyden, using them only for medicinal research. One day bulbs were stolen from his garden; thus began the Dutch tulip trade. The upper classes, first in Holland, then abroad, grew fond of them and tulips increased steadily and dramatically in popularity and price. In 1636, for instance, one Viceroy tulip cost the equivalent of ten tons of cheese. No wonder the tulip became a popular decorative object! Simon Hackett (about 1600-1664). He was one of the most noted English watchmakers of the period. He became a Free Brother in the Clockmakers' Company in 1632, Assistant in the Company in 1635, and Warden in 1637, a distinction he held for fourteen years,until 1560. The Company chose him as a Master in 1646 and again in 1659. Sometimes he signed his work "Simon Hacke". Two of his watches are in the Victoria and Albert Museum, one is in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. Another in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, also has a florally decorated Blois case.A watch with an identical case, though in vermeil, was sold by Antiquorum in the Lord Sandberg Collection, March 31 and April 1, 2001, lot 331.