James Banks, Nottingham

• Movement: gilded full plate movement, verge escapement, balance cock decoratively pierced and engraved with foliage and birds and an oval reserve signed J Banks, Nottinghm, fusee and chain, crested Egyptian pillars
• Dial: silver champlevé differential dial, inner revolving hour disk, outer Arabic minute ring, embossed and chased band between with trophies of war, all against a stippled ground, single blued steel poker minute hand, signed within a banner I. Banks, Nottingham
• Case: plain silver inner case, stirrup bow and pendant, inner case with maker's mark T.P within a cameo, cast/embossed outer case with allegorical scene of The Triumph of Love below the Latin inscription: "Amoris tela omnium querela", hinged with shaped end joints

Antiquarian Horological Society Tenth Anniversary Exhibition, Science Museum, May – August 1964, item 86

Cecil Clutton and George Daniels, Watches, 1^st Edition, 1965, pl. 251-252
Terence Camerer Cuss, The English Watch 1585-1970, 2009, pp. 140-141, pl. 71
T.P. & T.A. Camerer Cuss, The Camerer Cuss Book of Antique Watches, 1976, p.99, pl. 47
T.P. Camerer Cuss, The Country Life Book of Watches, 1967, p. 51, pl. 48
David Landes, Revolution in Time, 2000, p. 249, fig. 25

Movement running and appears to be in good clean condition at time of cataloguing. Dial in refreshed condition with light scuffs. Inner case with light marks and scratches and with denting to the band and some dents to the case back, some rubbing to the scene of the outer case.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. All dimensions in catalogue descriptions are approximate. Condition reports may not specify mechanical replacements or imperfections to the movement, case, dial, pendulum, separate base(s) or dome. Watches in water-resistant cases have been opened to examine movements but no warranties are made that the watches are currently water-resistant. Please note that we do not guarantee the authenticity of any individual component parts, such as wheels, hands, crowns, crystals, screws, bracelets and leather bands, since subsequent repairs and restoration work may have resulted in the replacement of original parts. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue. In particular, please note it is the purchaser's responsibility to comply with any applicable import and export matters, particularly in relation to lots incorporating materials from endangered species.NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

**Please be advised that bands made of materials derived from endangered or otherwise protected species (i.e. alligator and crocodile) are not sold with the watches and are for display purposes only. We reserve the right to remove these bands prior to shipping."

The differential dial is a rather ingenious means by which to display the time. A single hand indicates the minutes towards the edge of the dial whilst the current hour, indicated on the central disk, always appears beneath the minute hand. This method of display was described by George Daniels and Cecil Clutton in their book “Watches” thus: “the differential hour arrangement is very rare indeed. An ordinary minute hand goes round once an hour. The centre of the dial is occupied by a revolving disk with the hours from I to XII numbered on it in the ordinary way. This is geared to rotate…[11/12] of a full circle in an hour. Thus the current hour is always immediately under the minute hand” [see op. cit. 1^st Edition, 1965, p. 77]

In many ways it is surprising that the differential dial was not more widely used. The greater accuracy of the watch at the end of the 17^th century, as a result of the widespread introduction of the balance spring, saw the increasing use of the minute hand. It is likely that, for some, the introduction of a secondary hand to the dial of a watch may have been an unwelcome cluttering, or indeed confusing addition to the dial of a watch. For this reason, the clarity of the differential dial’s display had much to recommend it. Nevertheless, it clearly did not catch on as a design and very few examples are known, indeed, David Landes in his book “Revolution in Time” suggests that “all the differential dials of the period may have been made by a single artist, who supplied them to master watchmakers for resale under their own names…Every one that I have seen has the same martial emblems on the dial, and they all seem to have come from the same shop” [see op. cit. 2000, p. 249].

At least two other watches by Banks with the same style of differential dial are known, one formerly in the Courtney Ilbert Collection was purchased by the British Museum from Christie’s in 1958 and another is in a private collection. These are signed, as the present example, simply J Banks on both the dial and movement but the latter, from a private collection, although signed in the same way on an identical dial, is signed James Banks, Nottingham on the movement. This last watch would seem to clearly establish that the forename Joseph, often assumed for the maker of these particular watches, is incorrect. This last watch is also interesting in that the case, made by the same maker (Richard Blundell) as those belonging to the watch in the British Museum, is hallmarked for 1698, and is the earliest recorded example of a hallmark on a silver watch case.