Justin Vulliamy

Justin Vulliamy, London,No. "oso", hallmarked 1788-89.Very fine 22K gold, pair-cased half-quarter dumb repeating watch with à tact option. uter: two-body, made by "WC", back cover centered by oval coat-of-arms with motto "Honor, Praeminum, Fidelitatis", engine-turned frame, bezels engraved with scrolls, inner: two body, polished with burning urn engraved in the back. White enamel, radial Roman numerals, outer minute ring with five-minute Arabic markers. Blued steel "beetle and poker" hands. Notes Justin VulliamyOf Swiss origin, Justin Vulliamy settled in London early in the 18th century, becoming associated with Benjamin Gray, of Pall Mall whose daughter he married and with whom he was in partnership from 1730 to 1775, carrying on the business after Gray's death. Gray was clockmaker to George II, and the Vulliamy family held the office of clockmaker to the reigning sovereign until the death of Justin's son Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy in 1854.Matthew StogdenA workman of Graham, around 1730 he invented a quite different and reliable repeating mechanism that was used in most of the best English repeaters. Not only the British used this system; Breguet also did in his early years (see lot 183). Later he used his own system, which was also a modification of Stogden's.