Charles Frodsham, London

Christie’s London, 29 September 1995, lot 107. 

Vaudrey Mercer, The Frodshams: The Story of a Family of Chronometer Makers, Antiquarian Horological Society, 1981, p. 260.

Large, substantial, and of exceptional quality, this superb split-seconds chronograph watch features a movement supplied by Nicole, Nielsen & Co. of Soho Square, London, known for furnishing Charles Frodsham with some of their finest complication movements. The creamy-coloured dial, created by T. J. Willis—renowned as the leading dial maker of the era— complements the watch’s artistry. Even the hands showcase meticulous design, with contrasting split-seconds hands in gilded and blued steel, each featuring sharp, arrow-tipped counterbalances. The 60-minute recording hand mirrors this design with an arrow-form tip, visually uniting it with the split hands. Frodsham’s finest watches were fitted with substantial gold cases, exquisitely detailed and beautifully constructed. Practical features are not only integrated with care but also exhibit an exceptional sense of design: the olivette for hand-setting is protected by shoulders, while the repeating slide is recessed within a dedicated channel. The chronograph mechanism is smooth and precise, with start/stop/reset functions activated by pressing the crown, and the split-seconds feature is controlled by a substantial, ridged pusher positioned just above 11 o’clock. To the outside case back we can see the crest of the Dixon Family (dexter hand holding a sword), together with their motto Fortes Fortuna Juvat which translates as Fortune Favours the Bold.

Charles Frodsham & Co. Ltd. is the world’s longest continuously operating chronometer manufacturer. Charles Frodsham (1810-1871), the company’s founder, began his career by entering his first watches into the Greenwich chronometer trials in 1830, when he was just twenty. By 1834, he had established his own business and soon began supplying marine chronometers to the Admiralty. In 1843, after John Roger Arnold’s death, Frodsham acquired the Arnold business, rebranding as Arnold Frodsham at 84 Strand, London. He later purchased the Vulliamy watch business in 1854, leading to a recommendation from Astronomer Royal George Airy for Frodsham to serve as Keeper of Her Majesty’s Clocks at Buckingham Palace—a role that allowed him to expand internationally, with agents in America, France, and Spain. 

With an exemplary reputation, Frodsham was particularly respected for his work on chronometers, reversed fusee and both lever and double rotary escapements. He served as Master of the Clockmakers’ Company in 1855, winning a Gold Medal at the Paris Exhibition that year. The company was incorporated as Charles Frodsham & Co. Ltd. in 1893. In addition to clocks, regulators, marine chronometers and deck watches, Charles Frodsham produced a range of exceptional gold pocket watches. Among these were precision and complication watches that included chronograph, chronometers, repeaters, perpetual calendars, karrusels and tourbillons. Today, the firm continues its tradition of innovation and excellence, producing remarkable contemporary watches, almost every component of which are made in their English workshops. 

For a similar split-seconds, minute-repeating watch by Charles Frodsham, also with Nicole, Nielsen & Co. movement, numbered 08759 and also hallmarked for the years 1899-1900, see: Camerer Cuss, Terence, The English Watch 1585-1970, Woodbridge: Antique Collectors’ Club, 2009, plate 277, pp. 428-429.