English and French watchmakers adopted the same style for high quality watches, mostly influenced by Abraham – Louis Breguet’s success. The watches were big (ca. 50mm) in size and many of them had guilloched silver dials. The full plate movements retained their respective designs, being single footed in England and double footed in France. The more important workshops used less verge escapements, using cylinder, lever and duplex mechanisms. Some manufacturers continued to use verge escapements for people wanting a robust watch. The full plate construction made place for the use of single bridge movements of the Lépine type or the very popular 3/4 plate type. The Napoleonic Wars put some pressure of the British economy, forcing some very successful firms such as Ellicott, Grant and Dutton to decrease their production. Some of the most important English watchmakers of the period were: Benjamin Vulliamy and his son Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy, John – Roger Arnold, Charles Frodsham, Joseph and Henry Jump and Edward John Dent. Also because the aforementioned economical issues at some point many of these watchmakers were associates, producing basically the same type of high quality watches.
Swiss imported raw movements were specific pieces used for repeating, tourbillon, calendar or chronograph movements. Beginning from about 1825 the raw movements or ‘movements made in the grey’ for ‘simple’ watches made in Lancashire or Coventry were more an more used also by watchmakers in London (A). As a parallel development, the watchmaking in Liverpool and surroundings flourished producing some high quality pieces such as those made by Robert Roskell. Other watchmakers specialized in export pieces for the growing market in the United States.
By 1860 the full plate types were abandoned except for low quality pieces and deck watches.
Antiquarian Horology 