Parkinson & Frodsham Grande Sonnerie Spring Detent Chronometer Quarter Repeater

Excited to offer to you today this highly complicated timepiece, made out of the highest standards in the 19th century of horology; a museum worthy Grande Sonnerie Chronometer made by historically important William James Frodsham and William Parkinson. Scroll down to read more about this rarity.

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Description

Parkinson & Frodsham, founded in 1801 by the two gentlemen above, specialized themself in the production of deck chronometers and the finest pocket watches, mostly for the admiralty. Their ‘oeuvre’ of work is constrained to a limited number of pieces because of the time consuming crafting of these exceptionally intricate clocks and pocket watches.

The example listed here remains in an extraordinary good condition.
Inspecting the watch extensively with a 5x loop leaves us baffled as there is no dent, nick, crack or (deep) scratch to be found, as if this watch left the Parkinson & Frodsham workshop yesterday.

The white enamel dial features black Roman hours and a minute railway track indication. Large decentralized seconds and blued steel ‘spade’ hands. We find an Hours/Quarters lever below the five hour position and the Strike/Silent lever at the top left twelve hour position. Mesmerizing razor sharp facetted large gold winding crown.

The extensively and incredibly well carved case bears the case makers initials C.N.E.N.
Not just by looking at the condition of the case but by holding and feeling this watch in your hand you truly understand the marvelous condition. The engravings remain so sharp that you can feel the case taking grip in the palm of your hands. The combination of the deep engraving and the fact this watch has possibly been worn less than a dozen times results in this rare and unspecified feeling which is hard to describe or put down in words, yet in some way guaranteed to exceed your expectations.

The movement is fascinating in both aesthetics and mechanical aspects. An impressive line by describing the movement solely in its mechanical terms; A two-train free sprung double barrel grande sonnerie spring detent quarter repeating chronometer with helical balance spring. It is needless to say that the movement, just like the dial and case, are made out of the highest standards. The escapement is fully operational with stunning clear tones on both the hours and quarters, and a mesmerizing tick produced by the spring detent mechanism.

This marvelous timepiece worthy of the most exquisite collections is ready to be adopted and treasured by an avid collector. Feel free to contact us regarding extra pictures, information or a video of the watch chiming.

For your reference; a similar watch was sold in 2011 by Christies (without chronometer movement or decorated case).

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More information, pictures and video’s can be send upon request.
Feel free to ask us whatever question you have about this timepiece.
Please note that all our watches are bank stored, therefore we handle a 24 to 48 hour processing time between payment and shipment.

Specifications

Manufacturer

Parkinson & Frodsham

Dimensions

53.5mm / 66.1mm

Material

18K Yellow Gold

Complications

Grande Sonnerie Quarter Repeater Chronometer

Period

1890s

Weight

173.3 Grams