Richard Crayle, Fleet Street

• gilt full plate oval movement, verge escapement, pinned-on pierced and florally engraved balance cock, plain flat steel balance, wheel and click set-up, gut line fusee, vase shaped pillars • plain silver dial, chapter ring with Roman numerals, inner quarter hour divisions, blued steel hour hand • plain oval silver case, the back with shuttered winding aperture, glazed cover with brass frame • leather covered outer protective case with gold tooled decoration • movement signed Richard Crayle in Fleetstreet 

Sotheby's London, Chester Beatty Collection part II, 17th June 1963, lot 182

Antiquorum Geneva, The Ruscitti Collection, October 2001, lot 568

Terence Camerer Cuss, The English Watch, 1585-1970, p. 75, pl. 33

It is thought that Richard Crayle was originally a member of the Blacksmiths’ Company. Later, he was one of the original petitioners for a Clockmakers’ Company but for some reason was never formally admitted. He was a witness to the will of Robert Grinkin Senior in 1626. Richard Crayle died around 1662. See: Brian Loomes, The Early Clockmakers of Great Britain, 1981, p. 171. This lot appears to be the same as one offered in the Chester Beatty Collection at Sotheby's London in 1963. Although not illustrated, the description fits in detail, including the protective leather outer case.

A tulip-form watch by Richard Crayle was included in Masterpieces from the Time Museum, Part Four, Vol. 1, Sotheby's New York, 13th October 2004, lot 514. A further watch by Crayle is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.