Description: Gilt brass, full plate fusee movement (42 mm diameter) with square baluster pillars and finely engraved balance cock. Diamond end stone. Signed back plate ‘William Dutton London 1363’. Verge (recoil) escapement. Enlarged brass edge, later cream enamelled copper dial. (A)
Additional Info:
Unlike George Graham, Thomas Mudge and William Dutton are known to have used verge escapements throughout their working lives. One of the very few known movements bearing only William Dutton’s signature. The numbering of the verge pieces seems not to have followed the ones equipped with cylinder escapements. (A)
William Dutton (1738 – 1794) the son of Matthew Dutton of Marston in Buckinghamshire, was apprenticed to George Graham on 5th January 1738. He received his freedom on 7th July 1746. He was a liveryman of the Clockmakers Company from 1766-94. Most probably Dutton worked for Thomas Mudge from the beginning of the opening of latter’s workshop in 1748, he then entered into a partnership with Thomas Mudge around 1765 taking care of the watch production and took over the whole business in 1771, when Mudge retired due to illness. For some time the firm’s name remained the same until the late 1780s when he started to sign his work as ‘William Dutton’ or ‘W. Dutton’.
For a short period of time he ran the firm together with his two sons: Matthew and Thomas, signing the output ‘W. Dutton & Sons’ (A).
Antiquarian Horology 