Even if one of the most important invention of horology, the spiral balance spring, can most probably be attributed to a dutchman, the manufacture of watches was quite limited and restricted to the major cities such as Amsterdam, Rotterdam and the Hague. Moreover the typical dutch pocket watch was only produced roughly between 1685 and 1750. The dutch watch, as compared to the English or French watch, had a very unique type of cock, two footed like the French, but the feet were very broad. Many watches have a ‘Mock pendulum’, which is a balance with pendulum like bump showing through a oblong, curved opening. The purpose of this construction was to give the impression that the pocket watch was equipped with a real pendulum, to suggest a high precision piece. Other features of Dutch watches are the sometimes very intricately fashioned pillars, most probably to differentiate them from English or French watches and to impose a ‘Dutch style’. Also, Dutch customers were very fond of complications visible on the dial, many early Dutch watches have calendar or day/night function. Most dials (champlève silver or gold and later enamelled) show another Dutch speciality: the ‘wavy’ minute index, later sometimes combined with a central enamelled scene of every day life (farms, ships, landscapes). Latter feature was later adopted in English and French watches as well. Many watches of Dutch style were also manufactured in Geneva with fake ‘London’ attribution for the Dutch and Scandinavian market (A).
Antiquarian Horology 