Back in 2015 I wrote about the Turpins and their watchmaking.
At that time I had been unable to find any examples of Benjamin Turpin's work. A movement has now however turned up with Pete at Cogs and Pieces, (an excellent watch dealer in my experience, offering good value for money).
Well worth a look, I feel, especially as the Turpin's story is an interesting one, with plenty of scandal and intrigue.
Just published, (July 2021 issue) in Clocks magazine, is my feature on Johann Ulrich.
Ulrich is of interest in genealogical terms since both his father and grandfather were watchmakers - initially in Denmark and then Germany before settling in London - but I have focused in the article on his apparent obsession with obtaining patents. It would seem that this diverted most of his attention away from the basic conduct of his business, resulting in a lifetime of relative poverty. On the other hand, his innovative expertise enabled the creation of some unusual and attractive timepieces, such as this chronometer, made while he was in partnership with Joseph Croucher:
The January issue of Clocks magazine has just been published. It includes my article on William Nadauld, a Huguenot watchmaker, active in London in the early part of the nineteenth century. Examples of his work are not easy to find, but I have recently come across this better image of the lever pocket watch previously in the collection of Stanley H. Burton:
It is described by the auctioneers, Gardiner Houlgate, thus:
Unusual silver fusee lever regulator, signed W.E Nadauld, White Hart Court, Lombard Street, no. 10126, full plate movement with sunk balance, the silvered dial with subsidiary hour dial over constant seconds, centre blue steel minute hand with Arabic numeral chapter, later case hallmarked London 1898, 58mm
This
appears to be a distinctive, good quality watch. Makers like Nadauld were struggling to market
such products against competition from imported watches which were considerably
less expensive. As is more fully related
in my Clocks article, Nadauld spoke about this in 1817 before a
Parliamentary Poor Laws Committee meeting:
What has been the state of your trade of late years? - It has been a considerable falling off these late years.
What number of watches do you sell annually? - From eight hundred to eleven hundred a year.
How many have you sold during the last year? - In the last year I do not think I have sold two hundred.
Quite a severe loss of business!
For
more about Clocks magazine, see here.
