Verge Fusee – A Pocket Watch History
Pocket watches began to appear in the 16th century and were actually know as pocket clocks at that time. These early versions of the pocket watch were pretty much useless as a timepiece and they could loose hours in one day, so they became more of a fashion statement for the more affluent of society.
It wasn’t until the mid 17th century that the pocket watch became a useful timepiece when the Fusee pulley was used to dramatically improve the timekeeping of pocket watches. The Fusee is attached to the mainspring barrel with a small chain and keeps an even reduction as the mainspring wound down. Although the Fusee mechanism had been used for years before in clocks it wasn’t until the mid 1600s that a Fusee could be made to fit in to a pocket watch and even then these kinds of watches although relatively accurate were bulky.
By the mid 1700s the Fusee was replaced by the Going Barrel by the French and adopted by the Swiss in the 1800s. The English however continued with the Fusee up until the 1900s
The picture on the right show the mechanism of a pocket watch and you can see the Fusee at the top left and the mainspring barrel at the bottom right.
There are many fine examples of early Verge Fusee Pocket Watches for sale on eBay and many are in perfect working order.
Pocket Watches For Sale
18ct/Platinum Exquistely Rare Pocket Watch Circa 1800s.
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£25,000.00 Sale Ends: Thursday Feb-09-2012 21:41:46 GMT £25,000.00 |
1900 gold pocket watch, Charles Locle minute-repetition
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£17,517.04 Sale Ends: Friday Feb-03-2012 18:19:05 GMT £17,517.04 |
Very Rare Minute Repeater Automaton Silver Pocket Watch for Ottoman Market
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£14,332.12 Sale Ends: Saturday Feb-25-2012 17:40:34 GMT £14,332.12 |
VINTAGE AUTOMATON EROTIC POCKET WATCH QUARTER REPEATER 18K SOLID GOLD
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£12,739.66 (0 Bid) Sale Ends: Saturday Feb-04-2012 0:00:42 GMT |
1880′s VINTAGE REMONTOIR QUARTER REPEATER POCKET WATCH 18K SOLID GOLD
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£11,465.69 Sale Ends: Monday Jan-30-2012 20:18:27 GMT £11,465.69 |
18K Gold Swiss Verge Fusee Pocket Watch c.1780 for Ottoman (Turkish) Market
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£10,987.96 Sale Ends: Tuesday Feb-21-2012 14:36:54 GMT £10,987.96 |
Grand Jean for Tiffany & Co. Perpetual Calendar Moon Phase 18K Gold Pocket Watch
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£10,765.02 Sale Ends: Thursday Feb-09-2012 22:00:16 GMT £10,765.02 |
18ct Rare Chronometer Detent Escapement(53mm) Swiss Pocket Watch Circa 1880.
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£10,500.00 Sale Ends: Thursday Feb-09-2012 21:35:45 GMT £10,500.00 |
18K Gold French Made Fusee Pocket Watch c.1790 for Ottoman (Turkish) Market
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£10,350.98 Sale Ends: Tuesday Feb-21-2012 13:52:22 GMT £10,350.98 |
18K Gold Fusee Helical Hair Spring Detent Chronometer Ottoman Pocket Watch 1850
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£9,554.75 Sale Ends: Tuesday Feb-07-2012 12:23:45 GMT £9,554.75 |
Trend Alert – The Pocket Watch Has Become Fashionable Again
A certain tendency of fashion claims that a watch is nothing but an accessory which has to be changed according to the attire. Well, if the watch is something special, it may go to all apparel. One of the recent rediscoveries in the field of fashion is the pocket watch.
Considering that the first pocket watch may be traced back in the XVI the century in England, it has quite a history. It has been improved during all this time so that from the very heavy watch worn around the neck it evolved to real works of art. An invention which started as pure necessity; finished by amazing everyone through its artistry.
Most watches had paintings and even engravings. The cases took the most diverse shapes of refinement. They became real jewels and this is the way they are perceived nowadays as well. It is true that they ran out of fashion during the First World War because they were not extremely comfortable to be worn. But the new models are simply amazing.
One example would be the so called “chatelaine” style. Adorned with turquoises, it is a real piece of work. It has some chains which allow it to be caught on clothes and a special agraffe with the same purpose. The British pocket watches excel in what technology is concerned. But the French ones are known for their design. They are called “fantasy watches”, with different geometrical forms: bells, pears or bottles.
Another style is called “bassine”. The term described a squat sphere. Most interesting models have been made from precious metals through different techniques: repousse, guilloche, engraving, polishing. They had been decorated with precious stones, pearls, colorful emails and gold with different hues.
Nowadays it is extremely fashionable to have such a watch in the pocket of the jacket. It is true that such a golden watch is not meant for daily wearing but its elegance and style would impress everyone around.
The fashion designers were so impressed by it that they included pocket watches in their collections, but they offered them more originality. Recently, in the summer autumn collection, a young designer chose pocket watches as pendants for the models who promoted her dresses.
For instance, the beautiful ladies had to wear the elegant watches around their necks. Is it a way of reviving the past or simply a touch of originality? Maybe the Seiko watches know better how to answer these questions, since they have always tried to combine originality with tradition.
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Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Trend-Alert---The-Pocket-Watch-Has-Become-Fashionable-Again&id=5044524] Trend Alert – The Pocket Watch Has Become Fashionable Again
