William Partridge

• Movement: gilded full plate, decoratively pierced and engraved screwed-on balance cock, ratchet and click set-up, plain balance, fusee and gut line, Egyptian pillars, signed Will. Partridge Fecit
• Dial: gold, decorated with cloisonné and champlevé enamel flowers, foliage and geometric motifs against a white ground, chapter ring with Roman numerals and half hour divisions, double ended blued steel hand with foliate head
• Case: case and bezel similarly decorated, pendant with green and blue enamel highlights

Antiquorum Geneva, 16th November 2003 Beyer Collection, lot 11

Terence Camerer Cuss, The English Watch 1585-1970, 2009, pp. 62-63, pl. 24 

Movement clean and in running condition at time of cataloguing. Outer enamel ring to the dial with several areas of repair and restoration and with hairlines, some restoration to enamel at dial's centre.
"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."

William Partridge became a Freeman of the Clockmakers’ Company on 1^st September, 1640. In May 1660, shortly after the Restoration of the Monarchy, William Partridge, supported by his wife Sarah, petitioned the King “that he [Partridge] may be restored unto his said place of Clockmaker to your Majesty with all such privileges and Impunities as belong unto it according to his warrant” [see: Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, May 1660]. The petition seems to suggest that Partridge had been appointed as Clockmaker to King Charles II, whilst the latter was Prince of Wales at Oxford in 1645. Within the petition, Partridge is keen to point out his Royalist credentials and is at pains to demonstrate the cost of his loyalty, having served Charles I’s father within the King’s “Life Guards of Foot” and later raising his own Company.  Partridge notes that he had suffered greatly as a consequence from “plundering, imprisonments and expulsions”. In her supporting petition, William’s wife Sarah states that her husband was ‘bred under Mr Esté, which both Brian Loomes and Cedric Jagger have suggested is likely to refer to Edward East. Sadly, for William and his wife, their passionate entreaties to the King were unsuccessful and it seems that William was not heard of again. (See: Brian Loomes, The Early Clockmakers of Great Britain, p. 430 and Cedric Jagger, Royal Clocks, p. 310).

Sumptuously decorated with cloisonné and champlevé enamels against a white ground, this wonderful small watch has a jewel-like quality. The watch bears close similarities to contemporary French work of the Blois school, particularly in the enamel case and the style of the balance cock. Indeed, William’s wife noted in her petition mentioned above, that her husband had ‘improved’ his trade in France and Flanders and so it is unsurprising to find such stylistic influences. No other watch by William Partridge appears to be recorded.