The present watch has a very early form of keyless winding and handsetting, which anticipates Adrien Philippe?s second keyless winding system (patent 46951 of 1861). Indeed, it features ?coasting?, an important element of Philippe?s patent, whereby the crown can be turned anti-clockwise with the typical ratchet noise, and thus pre-dates Philippe?s registration of the idea. Both have their origins in Breguet?s idea of the ratchet key. To find keyless winding and hand-setting on a pocket chronometer of this date is very rare. The firm of Hunt and Roskell had very close associations with the Swiss watch industry and often used Swiss movements for their precision watches. Hunt & Roskell The firm was begun by the gold and silversmith Paul Storr. In partnership with John Mortimer and John Samuel Hunt, he added the retailing of clocks and watches to his activities of selling gold and silver plate and jewelry in their New Bond Street premises. On December 31, 1838 the partnership was dissolved, business being continued by Mortimer with J.S. and J. Hunt as Mortimer & Hunt at 156 New Bond Street. In 1843 Mortimer retired, being replaced by Robert Roskell. The firm continued as Hunt & Roskell until they were bought by J.W. Benson in 1866. They also had premises in Manchester. The company made watches for the China trade and produced fine minute repeating watches and watches with spherically sprung spring-detent tourbillons. They exhibited at the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1867.