Dating a Russell Fusee Hunter

11J Hunter signed Thos Russell & Son. Liverpool

There was something odd about this watch when I saw it listed for auction, the case was clearly hallmarked at Chester in 1914 but the movement looked older than that. It is also very unusual to find a "Consular" type case as late as 1914, in fact I don't recall seeing one that late.

When it arrived my suspicions were confirmed as the movement has a very "slow train" running at 15,400 Vibrations Per Hour which was obsolete by the early 1890s. Further research also showed that the trading name on the dial was in use from 1859 though 1894 and the address probably from after the late 1870s.





Case hallmarked in Chester 1914, maker's mark S.Y for Samuel Yeomans.

The case however clearly belonged to the movement they have the same serial number. So the movement had must have had a new case made for it in 1914, a telling point for the provenance of the movement was the makers mark on the case of S.Y, this is for Samuel Yeomans who was mention in my last post but one on a Harrison watch, where there is some background on this important figure in Coventry watchmaking.

The point is that Yeomans was in the business of manufacturing watches, he was not a case maker and it is very unlikely that someone would go to the company for a new case, and the company was unlikely to provide one, unless they had originally made the watch.

So whilst Russell was, I believe, still making watches when this movement was made he is also known to have been buying in watches from Coventry and this is one of them, almost certainly made by Yeomans from a Prescott ebauché (the ebauché makers mark "M.M" is stamped on the movement).

The 11 Jewel Fusee Movement c 1880

This all helps with dating, at first sight from the design etc. the movement is likely to be from c 1850 through to c 1900, the use of a 15,400 VPH slow train narrows this further to a latest date of c1890. The use of a Prescott ebauché probably confirms 1890 as the latest date as by this time Yeomans was also chairman of the Coventry Watch Movement Company who were making Fusee ebauché [3] for the Coventry trade and he was hardly likely to buy in a Prescott ebauché [1]

In 1877 Yeomans [2] was working with Newsome and their movements were marked  "N&Y" as was the Harrison from that date.

So the movement is between c1878 and c 1890 and in my view given the obsolescent very "slow train" most likely from c 1880.

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[1] The CWMC did on occasion by in ebauché from The Lancashire Watch Co of Prescott but this is not one of them.
[2] Yeomans first registered is silver mark in 1874, probably for watches made with Newsome - the two together did not have a mark that I can find. It is therefore unlikely that the movement is earlier than 1877.
[3] The CWMC started off making Fusee ebauché  but quickly realised their error and re-tooled for going barrel movements.

Fusee Maintaining Power

One drawback of a Fusee is that power to the movement is lost whilst the watch is being wound, very often this was accepted on Verge Fusee watches but most Lever Fusee watches were equipped with "Maintaining Power" to overcome the problem.

The components fitted to the Fusee cone to provide "Maintaining Power"

To provide maintaining power the Fusee has some additional components, on the right of the picture above we see the underside of the Fusee cone which now does not have the teeth on its edge to engage with the centre wheel pinion.

Instead there are teeth to engage with the two sprung loaded paws on the piece shown in the centre which fits beneath it.

The teeth on the edge of this piece engage with a paw on the movement to prevent it turning the wrong way. The paw is shown in the picture to the right bottom centre, it is swung away from the Fusee in the picture as its spring would push it over without the top plate in position.

The piece on the left has the teeth to engage with the centre wheel and a flat circular spring running in this picture from 3 o'clock around to 12.

The top of the spring has freedom to move about 2 teeth along the rim of the disk, a stud just visible (click on the image for a larger view) engages with the small hole at 12 o'clock on the centre piece, it will be under tension and will provide power to the train during the brief period power comes off with each turn of the key.

The assembly is kept together with a collar pinned to the arbour as shown in the final picture. The slot near the top of the disk is the business end of the maintaining spring. The rivet to the left is securing the other end of the spring.

One Watch - Four Names



Fusee Lever signed Harrisson & Son, Darlington. 1877.

The watch has a substantial size 18 Fusee movement in a silver case made in 1877. A nice, well made watch as well it might with 4 well known names associated with it.

 

Long Case Clock by W. Harrison of
Hexham c1825 and insert English
Watch Co Chronograph 1882 signed by
W.E. Harrison of Stockton-On-Tees.

The first and most obvious is that of Harrison (and Son) of Darlington on the dial and movement, the Harrison’s were a large clan of watchmakers from the north east of England, probably related to the John Harrison who won the longitude prise for his 18^th century chronometers who originated in Northumberland.

Unfortunately without a great deal of research the actual relationships between the various branches of the family is likely to remain unclear, particularly as many of them were called John or William and several seemed to move around quite frequently.

As best as I can make out from Loomes[i], the Harrison who made our long case clock in the 1820’s and who was at the time based in Hexham (before that he worked in Newcastle upon Tyne and after in Morpeth, then Warkworth and then back to Newcastle) was probably the father or the uncle of the Harrison of Harrison & Son of Darlington.

The second and third names are a bit harder to find, but under the dial the movement is stamped “N & Y”, this is for Isaac J.T. Newsome and (Frederick) Samuel Yeomans, two important men in the Coventry watch trade in the late 19^th century.

A Newsome finished CWCCo movement 1894.

Some years after the Fusee watch was made they were trading on their own accounts running two of the larger watch manufacturing operations in Coventry – although small by comparison by Rotherham – making high quality watches.
Unusually both signed at least some of their movements under the dial so they can be identified and they also had their own silver marks so many complete watches are also identifiable.

Early watches were from Prescott ebauché but both were early customers of the Coventry Watch Movement Company and for at least one it is easy to see why......

An unusual watch - made by the Lancashire Watch
Company but resold by Yeomans. 1896.

I have seen considerably more movements by Newsome which suggests that he had the larger business which may be attributable to Yeomans in 1889 being one of the founders and chairman of the Coventry Watch Movement Company. 

Later an S.T. Newsome[ii] was also involved with the CWMCo but it is unclear from my reading in what capacity although he was clearly senior as in 1903 he stood in for the then chairman at the AGM.

The forth big name is the case maker, John Hammon of Clerkenwell.

The Hammons were important makers with addresses in London from 1822 onwards (including a “Manufactory” in Sekforde St) and with what was probably another branch of the family in Coventry from 1869[iii].

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[i] Watchmakers and clockmakers of the World, Brian Loomes, NAG Press, 2006.

[ii] Watches 1850 – 1980, M. Cutmore, David & Charles, 1989.

[iii] Watch Case Makers of England, Philip T. Priestly, NAWCC, 1994.

Verge Fusees and Modern Mainsprings don’t mix.

A Verge Fusee signed by Thos Gilbert of Hythe, 1833.

As explained in some detail my posting “The Fusee Watch” a major problem to overcome in the design and manufacture of clocks and watches powered by a spring is the variation in timekeeping as the spring winds down and power decreases (a lack of Isochronism[1]), typically with high power it will run fast and then slow and perhaps running fast again when the spring is nearly exhausted as a lever movement develops a shallow but fast action.

It is a particular problem with escapements with high friction such as the Verge Escapement invented in the 13^th Century and still being used in pocket watches well into the 19^th century.

The problem was recognised and addressed by various means over the years, the first successful approach was the Fusee, described in detail my previous post, which provided variable gearing between the spring barrel and the train.

Various other measures contributed to improvements but one of the most significant developments in the late 19th and 20^th centuries was the improvements in metallurgy (including a move from steel to alloy construction), design and manufacture of mainsprings which by giving them variable thickness along the length of the spring and other features, allowed them to provide a relatively steady “pull” from shortly after fully wound for at least 24 hours.

Now for the conservator we have a problem. The Fusee compensates for variable power from the mainspring but 20^th and 21^st century mainsprings are designed for “Going barrel” watches[2] to give reasonably constant power so when the mainspring is replaced the Fusee is over compensating.

The result is that Fusee watches will typically keep time with varying accuracy over time, most particularly those with Verge escapements.

The Verge Fusee:

This is the first proper timekeeping check (a few runs of 1 - 2 hours first got it to this state) on a jewelled Verge Fusee movement by Vale & Rotherham from 1828 with a new mainspring.

 

To mitigate the problem I will, when practical, shorten a much longer spring than would fit in the barrel, by removing the first third or so of the spring the rest will usually be more like an old spring but the best that can realistically be done is to set the regulation so that the watch keep acceptable time for 12 - 18 hours, in the example above setting it to start off running a little fast would see it keep time  within about 90 seconds throughout a working day. So don’t expect too much from a Verge Fusee watch.

 

The Fusee Lever:

On the left a Fusee from a lever movement, note that the grove for the chain
moves in at a steady rate. On the right is the Fusee from a Verge watches. the
grove at the edge of the fuse is moving in at about double the rate of the other
 and the difference between the gearing effect at full and low wind is greater
for Verge , particularly when it is remembered that the run time of the lever
would usually be somewhat longer.

The same problem applies to Fusee lever movements but because of other improvements, the low friction lever escapement and some improvements in mainsprings by the mid to late 19th century the Fusee was far less aggressive and a modern mainspring will therefor have significantly less impact on the lever watch than on the Fusee.

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[1] Isochronism : The ability of an escapement to run at an even rate irrespective of the power supplied to it.

[2] In a going barrel movement the barrel containing the mainspring meshes directly to the centre wheel (or sometimes in English movements, notably by the Lancashire Watch Co, through a dummy Fusee – just an extra gear in the train - to give anticlockwise winding) rather than via a Fusee.

The Fusee Watch.

A problem apparent when clocks were first built using springs rather than weight for power was the variable time keeping as the spring, which was of consistent thickness and temper throughout its working length, ran down. It was particularly severe with the high friction escapements then available.

The solution was the Fusee, a device that altered the gearing between the spring and the train as the spring wound down.
 

A Verge Fusee movement by Vale & Rotherham 1828

The mainspring is in a barrel and connected to the Fusee with a chain (originally a gut cord on clocks) which is wound onto a spiral grove, as the barrel rotates it pulls the chain off of the Fusee giving a continuously changing gear ration and hopefully maintaining a stead pressure on the centre wheel and train.

Top plate of an 1876 11 Jewel Fusee Lever showing the "Fusee Iron"

To prevent excessive pressure on the chain cause by over-winding Fusee stop work (not to be confused with Geneva or Maltese-Cross stop work) is used, this is a lever (The "Fusee Iron" hinged to the top plate which is lifted by the chain as it moves up the Fusee until the lever hits the cam shaped piece on the top of the Fusee (Fusee "Stop-Piece") which prevents further winding. It also prevents the chain overflowing the Fusee and allows some chain to be left on the barrel keeping the chain on a tangent too it reducing strain on the chain hook and keeping pressure consistent at full wind.

One other refinement, known to people Like Harrison when he designed his chronometer was mechanisms for Maintaining Power, a basic Fusee (or weight driven clock) has the disadvantage that when being wound the power delivered to the train is weakened or stopped – not good for timekeeping! – clocks and later Fusee watches have this addition but many Verge Fusee’s do not – perhaps it was assumed that the time would in any case be adjusted after winding so there was not point.

The inside of Fusse Lever movement by J.W. Benson, 1880 on an  ebauché by John
Wycherley of Prescot one of the English pioneers of the "manufacture of  inter-
changeable machine made movements" for which he took out a patent #880 of 1867.

The Fusee "Stop Piece" is clearly visible on the top of the Fusee.
The spring loaded paw at the bottom is part of the mechanism giving
"Maintaining Power" .

By the late 1670’s watches were being made with hairsprings that had a regulator (Tompion’s being favoured in England), a Fusee and a Verge escapement and from the mid 1700s with Cylinder escapements as an alternate. These (and others) all had a considerable degree of friction within the escapement (in addition to turning friction in the train) which required the Fusee.

The Verge Fusse Movement shown above in a later stage of assembly.
The graduated dial is part of the "Tampion" regulator, the centre
arbor drives a rack supporting the curb pins.

In the 1770s a few watches were being made with low friction lever escapements but it was not until the early 1800s with escapements invented and developed by the likes of Massey, Mudge and Savage that they started to become important. The “classic” English Table Rolled Lever escapement appeared c 1823 and then its close relation the Swiss Lever.

These escapements were much better than the Verge etc. in keeping time as the spring ran down but Isochronism [i] was still not achieved without the use of a Fusee and so the Fusee Lever watch was still made in large quantities in England.

During the 19^th century various improvements were made which gradually made the Fusee redundant and watches did away with them to be known as “going barrel” watches. Probably the most important change was improved mainsprings that by the 20 century were of alloy, of variable thickness, shape and temper throughout its length to the point that the power produced was essential constant for at least 24 hours.

Other improvements included, reduced friction in the train by improved materials, more accurate manufacture, Jewelling, sometimes on American watches including of the mainspring arbor and for a brief period in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries Geneva stop work. 

The Fusee was not quite dead however, J.W. Benson were still offering a Fusse half-chronometer (The "Rated Watch" and a Fusee Chronometer in the mid to late 1930s.

Benson Catalogue Advert mid to late 1930s.

 

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[i] Isochronism: The ability of an escapement to run at an even rate irrespective of the power supplied to it.

The Lancashire Watch Co / Samuel "Trip Action" movement.

A common LWC full plate movement was known as "The Dummy" referring to a Dummy Fusee wheel / pinion that converted the movement to wind anti-clockwise in the manner of an English Fusee watch. This is the movement commonly found in the popular Graves "English Express Lever".

These movements also have a "Safety Pinion" to protect the workings in the event of a mainspring breaking or suddenly winding down, perhaps due to the click failing.

There is an uncommon variant of this design which I have only seen in watches branded by Harriet Samuel of Manchester. It has a patented device which combines the functionality of both the dummy Fusee and the Safety Pinion. They call it their Patented "Trip Action", it is not clear to me who held the patent, Platt [1] records this variant, also in movements for Samuel, and states that the "Trip" action in the watch is not quite the same as in the patent but similar too it but he does not name the patent holder.


The large dummy Fusee is replaced with a smaller pinion mounted on a swinging arm that is held in place by being pressed against a toothed rack. In normal use this connects the main-spring barrel to the centre wheel pinion. If the spring fails with any force the back-lash causes the pinion to fly away from the centre wheel protecting the train. It can later be reset by pushing it back into position.





[1] Lancashire Watch Company, History and Watches, John G. Platt, Inbeat Publications, 2016 p 281.