Description
500 Years | 100 Watches – Alexander Barter & Daryn Schnipper – Signed Copies
For centuries people have been captivated by watches—whether
for their technical precision, their unique design, or their historic importance. Each of the one hundred watches profiled in this elegant book stands out for one or more of these qualities.
Organised chronologically, the book features examples of the earliest watch forms; an astonishing Elizabethan-era watch with astrolabic dial; an early 17th century watch encased in a single emerald; two of the earliest watches to incorporate the balance spring—a feature that revolutionised the portable timekeeper; and some of the first repeating and perpetual calendar watches.
These are followed by the earliest known watch with detached lever escapement, invented by Thomas Mudge; important precision watches including John Harrison’s famous H4; early 19th century enamel and automaton watches; highly complex watches by Breguet and Patek Philippe; Sir Winston Churchill’s yellow gold World Time Victory watch; a Rolex wristwatch made to commemorate Indian Republic Day; an Omega Speedmaster that went into space; and some of the most innovative watches of the modern era, including the first wristwatch by F. P. Journe.
Featuring exquisitely reproduced photographs that are appearing for the first time together in book form, this historic collection will appeal to sophisticated collectors, amateur watch enthusiasts, and anyone with an interest in the art and science of horology.
About the authors
Alexander Barter served as Deputy Worldwide Head of Sotheby’s watch division. Since 2009 he has worked as an independent watch consultant, researching and writing the catalogues for many important watch collections. In 2019 he published his first book, The Watch: A Twentieth-Century Style History (Prestel).
The Chairman of Sotheby’s International Watch Division, Daryn Schnipper is one of the world’s leading experts in the field of watches. She has played a pivotal role in the sale of numerous important single-owner watch and clock collections during a career spanning more than four decades.
Published by Prestel in November 2023
Hardback with dust jacket
304 pages
Over 300 colour photographs
24cm x 30cm
Signed copies with a specially produced bookplate and a pack of ten postcards, exclusive to Black Bough.
