ANCIENT WATCH FREAKS

Evening Star, Issue 21504, 31 August 1933, Page 6

ANCIENT WATCH FREAKS

REPEATER THAT PLAYS TWO TUNES WORKS OF GENIUS Centuries-old watches which were made by eccentric workers were sold at a London saleroom in July. The watchmakers’ workshops were in Fleet street and the adjoining streets, and one of the items sold was a repeating watch by James Cox. It has a musical movement playing two tunes. Cox had his workshop m Shoo lane, and was a mechanical genius. He ruined himselt by the making of mechanical toys and musical watches so costly as only to be within the reach of Royal purses. The. buyers of Cox’s goods were few, and at one time he had stock valued at over £IOO.OOO. Another watch sold was made by John Arnold, and was used on one of Captain Cook’s expeditions. It was found on one of the islands visited by Cook, Arnold was such a skilled workman that for making ships’ chronometers ho was awarded a prize of £3,000 by the House of Commons in recognition of his work in evolving an accurate chronometer. Working in Devereaux court, just beyond Fleet street, Arnold made a ring for George HI., and inserted in it a diminutive watch. The King’s reward was £SOO. The Emperor of Russia, hearing of Arnold’s skill, offered him £I,OOO for a similar watch, but Arnold refused, saying that he could not allow another monarch to share his skill. Arnold, for a wager, climbed the dizzy height of Salisbury Cathedral—404ft—but ho did more than was expected of him. At the very top, with liis back to the spire, he took a watch to pieces, cleaned every part, put them back in their places, and within an hour took the watch back to the hotel where the wager was made and received the prize of a few pounds. A choice item in the watch collection was one having a miniature of Catherine, the widow of Peter the Great, dated 1725, the year of Peter’s death. It is set with diamonds, and in every way enriched with jewels.