Northern Goldsmiths Company, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

• frosted gilt three-quarter plate movement, one minute tourbillon carriage with Sidney Better's first style steel cage, club-tooth lever escapement, bi-metallic compensation balance, ruby end-stone •  off-white enamel dial, probably by Willis, Roman numerals, blued steel hands, outer minute track, subsidiary seconds • glazed cuvette, 18k gold case, plain polished covers, olivetted set-hands push • case, dial and movement signed • case and movement numbered, the backplate engraved "This watch was made by the Northern Goldsmith Company, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, no. 2097, Watchmakers to the Lords of the Admiralty", case stamped NGCo in a cameo for Northern Goldsmiths and hallmarked, London,1918, the pillar plate  stamped NG above Co in a rectangle.

Karl Plepla, New York

Esmond Bradley Martin, New York, 1955 purchased from the above 

Sotheby's New York, 22nd October 2002, Esmond Bradley Martin: Extraordinary Watches, lot 14

Terence Camerer Cuss, The English Watch 1585-1970, p. 451, pl. 294

Cecil Clutton, "Collector's Collection" Antiquarian Horological Society, (1974)

Paul Myatt, Sidney Better, "Watch Springer & Timer" Antiquarian Horology, pp. 651-664, Vol., 32 No.5 (Spring, 2011)

The present lot was submitted to the National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, Middlesex.  The watch was rated from 2nd December, 1919 to 15 January, 1920.  At that time the watch received an "Especially good" Class A rating and a certificate was awarded with 92.2 marks for superior merit, a remarkably good score. Only one other scored higher, no. 2134 made in 1922, which achieved a rating of 94.2 points. Sydney Better, a little known Clerkenwell maker, produced a small series of one minute tourbillons for the Northern Goldsmiths Company. To date, only nine pieces are known. Rienhard Meis in his book Das Tourbillon, accounted for eight pieces. The present lot was unknown until its sale at Sotheby's New York in 2002, which made it the ninth known.

Sidney Better made two forms of carriages, Better 1 and Better 2. The present lot features Better 1 which includes a three-armed cage with a two-armed straight bridge, the Better 2 has a three-armed cage. Sidney Better worked alone until the mid-1930's.  He used Swiss components for the escapements which he finished and fitted to his own carriages, see Cecil Clutton and George Daniels, Watches, Third edition, pls. 52 and 376, where Northern Goldsmith Tourbillon, no.2096 is found. Also see Meis, Das Tourbillon, p. 225, pl.282, and pp. 226-227, pls. 284-286.