Some Historic Watches.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XVIII, Issue 5826, 23 December 1893, Page 1

Some Historic Watches.

At the World's Fair, Chicago, some historic watches are exhibited. Oliver Cromwell's watch is an alarm timepiece in a big silver case one and a half inches thick, engraved in fine checks. The back opens with a hinge nearly an imh long, and the face has Roman figures, and Cromwell's name is engraved in the centre. The date is 1648, and the maker, Bockel, of London. John Milton's watch has a small oval silver case, and raised points on the dial by which the blind hard told the time. An astronomical watch in shell-enamelled case, with big round open face, of the 17th century, was carried by Sir Isaac Newton. A curious watch is in three metal cases, open face, with bright picture landscapes, dated 1771, and made in Kilmarnock, Scotland. This was Robert Burn's watch. The smallest watch in the collection was carried by the ill-fated Lady Jane Grey. It is an openface silver case, with enamelled dial, and about the circumference of a coin dollar. Near it is Queen Elizabeth's watch—a 3ar»e round case of metal and blue enamel. Both are of the 16th century, the first of Swiss make, the other made by Jenbi, of Paris. These are the only watches carried by women in the collection. Another Roval watch belonged to James I. It is of English make, dated 1610, and is as thick as three modern watches. The case is of gold, finely engraved, and the figures on the dial are set on a line of silver. The plainest watch in the collection was John Bunyan's timepiece _lt is a big silver open-faced watch, with second hands set on a plate. This also is of English make, by Fitter, of London, and of the 16th century" A beautiful shell-case, silver-mounted watch, dated 1656, was carried by William of Orange. Lord Nelson's watch, which he himself presented to Captain Rose, of the Victory, has a large silver case, with the figures almost at the centre of the dial. It is of French manufacture, by Delornie, of Paris. Besides the historical watches there are 600 antique watches, no less curious, of the early seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The larger number are of English make, others equally of Swiss and French, while less than a dozen are Dutch, three or four German, two made in Dublin, and one in Vienna. They include rare cases, some set with turquoises, some with rubies, others English enamelled and English repousse, 28-carat; silver and copper enamelled; silver, pinchbeck and shagreen; metal and silver, and shell. The works show even greater variety. One of these watches has the inscription inside the case—" Louis XIV., mort en MVCCXV." It is a verge seventeenth century, French make. But one watch in the whole number is authenticated as made by a woman Anne Dunlop, of London. It is a curious timepiece of the seventeenth-century date, in a leather case, with enamelled dial. One of the most beautiful watches is an English chronometer, of the eighteenth-century date, said to have belonged to the King of Spain. The gold case is in the form of a pear, exquisitely enamelled, with a bouquet of bright flowers on dark red color.. "A grirri conceit is an_early seven-teenth-century watch, in a silver case, in the form of a skull, and on the. dial an engraving of the "Day of Judgment." The maker is unknown, but it is supposed to be of "French manufacture. Among these antique curiosities is a cylinder musical watch and a large horizontal onequarter 'repeater, with hand-painted marine picture oh the dial; representing ships in the distance and, near the shore, ijeptuhe in a shell sporting with nymphs. "Around the rim of the dial are the words " Commercio Felicidad'Mundo."