Edward East, London

• Movement: gilded full plate, verge escapement, decoratively pierced and engraved screwed-on balance cock depicting a dolphin and scrolling foliage, flat steel balance, worm and wheel set-up (the wheel later), fusee and gut line, baluster pillars • movement signed Edwardus East Fecit
• Dial: gold champlevé enamel with translucent polychrome enamel flowers against a white enamel ground, chapter ring with Roman numerals and half hour divisions, double ended tulip hand
• Case: case and bezel similarly decorated, pendant with green and white enamel highlights • with a plain silver outer protective case

By descent through a family of title, Ireland Christie’s London, 3rd June, 1981 lot 160
Time Museum, Rockford, Illinois, U.S.A. inventory no. 3766
Sotheby’s New York, Masterpieces from the Time Museum, 13th October 2004, Part 4 Vol. I, lot 513

Glasgow, Palace of History, Scottish Exhibition of National History, Art and Industry, 1911, catalogue vol. 1 p. 143 – noted under ‘Personal Relics’ as a ‘watch which belonged to King
Charles I, which is reputed to have been given by him to Bishop Juxon’.

Terence Camerer Cuss, The English Watch 1585-1970, 2009, pp. 78-79, pl. 35
Cedric Jagger, Royal Clocks: The British Monarch & its Timekeepers, 1300-1900, 1987, pp 248-249, pl. 335 Allan Fea, Memoirs of the Martyr King, 1905, p. 55

Movement running at time of cataloguing. The set-up regulator wheel was lacking at the time of the Time Museum sale in October 2004 and has since been replaced with a wheel of the expected style and form; the base of the hand has also been repaired since Time Museum. There are some small losses to the enamel of the case and there are areas of restoration to case and dial. The silver protective case does not close flush as the pendant is keeping it slightly ajar.
"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."

This superb watch, by one of England’s finest early watchmakers, is richly decorated with cloisonné and champlevé enamels, lending the watch a jewel like quality.  When the Time Museum purchased this watch from Christie’s in June 1981, the catalogue stated: “By descent through a family of title in Ireland. According to family tradition, given by King Charles I on the scaffold to Bishop Juxon.” Despite a 1905 book by Allan Fea and an exhibition catalogue of 1911 each supporting the view that the watch had belonged to the King, as Cedric Jagger has pointed out in his own book, Royal Clocks: “While this beautiful watch could certainly be described as of ‘royal’ quality, there is sadly no proof whatever of such antecedents.” Indeed, the style of the watch would suggest a date a few years after the King’s execution in 1649.  Nevertheless, as family traditions often have some truth to them, it is still of course possible that the watch originally belonged to Bishop Juxon.

Bishop Juxon (1582-1663) rose to prominence during the early seventeenth century. He studied law at Oxford, but chose instead to have an ecclesiastical career, becoming the vicar of St. Giles’ Church in Oxford in 1609. He held several prestigious positions at Oxford, until he eventually served as the chaplain-in-ordinary to King Charles I. In October of 1633, he was consecrated as the Bishop of London, and by 1636, King Charles I bequeathed several secular responsibilities to him, such as the High Treasurer of England, and First Lord of the Admiralty. Charles I held Juxon in very high esteem, and frequently sought his advice on important issues. He requested that Juxon stand with him on the scaffold and offer him his last rites during his execution. After the Restoration of the Monarchy, Charles II named Juxon the Archbishop of Canterbury, which he remained until his death in 1663.

Without question one of the most important of early English watchmakers, Edward East was born in Southill, Bedfordshire in 1602. In 1632, he was made one of the first assistants of the Clockmakers’ Company, was Warden in 1638 and Master in both 1645 and 1653. In 1660 he was appointed chief clockmaker to King Charles II. In October 1692, East gave £100 to the Clockmakers’ Company with the interest to be used to
support poor members. See Loomes, The Early Clockmakers of Great Britain, 1981, p. 206. Edward East lived through almost the entire 17th century and died in 1697 leaving an extraordinary legacy of exceptional watches and clocks.