Ship's Two day marine chronometer by John Brunton, circa 1870 a…
click the photo to enlarge
Ship's Two day marine chronometer by John Brunton, circa 1870 a ship's two day marine chronometer by John Brunton, maker to the Admiralty 17 upper East, Smithfield, London, number 590, circa 1870 a two day marine chronometer in a three tier brass bound mahogany box, gimble and key silvered dial with Roman numerals, up and down dial at 12 o'clock, subsidiary dial at 6 o'clock, gold hands, detent escapement, helical hair spring, fusee movement 18 cm high, 18 cm wide, 18 cm deep

You must be a subscriber, and be logged in to view price and dealer details.

Subscribe Now to view actual auction price for this item

When you subscribe, you have the option of setting the currency in which to display prices to $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.

This item has been sold, and the description, image and price are for reference purposes only.
  • Movement - The technical name for the workings of a clock or watch, and does not include the dial or case.
  • Subsidiary Dial - On a clock or watch, a subsidiary dial, also called an auxiliary dial, is a dial that is secondary to the main dial and may show seconds, day of the week or month, or strike silent. A subsidiary dial may be within our outside the main dial, and a clock or watch may have several subsidiary dials.
  • Circa - A Latin term meaning 'about', often used in the antique trade to give an approximate date for the piece, usually considered to be five years on either side of the circa year. Thus, circa 1900 means the piece was made about 1900, probably between 1895 and 1905. The expression is sometimes abbreviated to c.1900.
  • Fusee - The fusee movement was used in clocks and pocket watches from the mid 17th century. The fusee is a cone shaped drum within the works that is linked to the barrel of the spring, usually by a length of chain.

    As the mainspring loses its tension over time, the cone shaped barrel compensates for this by increasing the tension, by pulling the mainspring tighter, thus ensuring the time remains constant.

    Use of the fusee in clocks was superseded by the "going barrel" in the mid 19th century and for pocket watches at the beginning of the 19th century.

    The fusee continued to be used in marine chronometers until the 1970s.
  • Tier - One or more under-shelves of a table or cabinet.
  • Mahogany - Mahogany is a dense, close grained red-coloured timber from the West Indies and Central America. It was first imported into Europe in the the early 18th century and its use continued through the 19th century. It was popular for furniture making because of its strength, the wide boards available, the distinctive grain on some boards, termed flame mahogany and the rich warm colour of the timber when it was polished.. The "flame" was produced where a limb grew out from the trunk of the tree, and this timber was usually sliced into veneers for feature panels on doors, backs and cornices.

    Some terms used to describe mahogany relate to the country from which it originally came, such as "Cuban" mahogany, "Honduras" mahogany etc. However unless the wood has been tested the names assigned are more a selling feature, rather than a true indication of the timber's origin.

This item has been included into following indexes:

Visually similar items

A mid 19th century Charles Frodsham two day marine Chronometer a two day movement with silvered 3 3/8 inch dial and gilt brass gimbal fittings in a mahogany double hinged case with outer protective mahogany case. By Charles Frodsham 84 Strand London, numbe

Sold by in for
You can display prices in $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.

An early English marine chronometer, C.1830, silvered and engraved dial marked 'French, Royal Exchange, London, No.5156' (i.e. Santiago James Moore French), signature and serial number boldly repeated on back plate, two-day duration with Arnold type spring

Sold by in for
You can display prices in $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.

An English rosewood cased two day marine chronometer, circa 1860 the silvered dial signed John Poole, maker to the Admiralty, Fenchurch St., London. no.2251, subsidiary seconds and up-down gimbal, mounted within three tier rosewood case with original ivory

Sold by in for
You can display prices in $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.

A marine chronometer by Thomas Porterhouse, London circa 1845, with 90 mm silvered dial engraved 'Thomas Porterhouse, Maker to the Admiralty, 10 Northhampton Square, London', in brass bound mahogany case, with key, 17 cm high, 20 cm wide, 19 cm deep,

Sold by in for
You can display prices in $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.