Cornelius Mellin, Blackfriars

• gilt brass full plate oval movement, verge escapement, short train, flat steel balance, pinned-on floral engraved balance cock, wheel and click set-up with gilded floral engraved bridge matching the cock, fusee and gut line • gilt metal dial, the centre engraved with Cupid touching a figure, possibly Narcissus with his arrow, the border with engraved floral decoration, an elderly male nude above 12 o'clock suggesting the personification of time, applied silver chapter ring with black Roman numerals, single blued steel hand • plain silver covers, the back with winding shutter, the silver band engraved with scrolling foliage and a putto to each side reaching for fruit, within gilt-metal engraved borders, tulip-form pendant • movement signed C Mellin aux Blackfriers

Antiquorum, The Sandberg Watch Collection, Geneva, April 2001, lot 238

Terence Camerer Cuss, The Sandberg Watch Collection, pp. 42-43

Terence Camerer Cuss, The English Watch 1585-1970, p.37, pl. 12

Dating to circa 1625, this watch displays the continuing popularity of the oval shape at this time, although watches were becoming smaller and slightly slimmer. The pendants remained substantial, but, in general, the terminals became shorter. The incorporation of narrow silver chapter rings remained fashionable. Unusually, the cover of this watch closes on a bevel rather than having the more common tongue and clasp type fixture. 

For a note on Mellin, see lot 2.