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AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



November, 19 13 



Watch keys are not the least interesting of the watchmaker's product, as the above examples attest 



"Like a German clock 

 Still a repairing, ever out of frame 

 And never going aright." 



The watch illustrated at the bottom of page 

 396 is one of early Nuremberg make. Its 

 date is before 1525 for the maker's initials, 

 A. S., enclosed in a Nuremberg shield, 

 are engraved on the octagonal bridge at the | 

 lower left hand side. During the first quar- 

 ter of the sixteenth century this was the 

 method of marking watches. After that time 

 the maker's name appeared. The case is in 

 the form of a book, made of brass and finely 

 gilt and burnished. 



Gold at that period was applied on a 

 ground of baser metal by a process known as 

 fire gilding. Gold mixed with mercury was 

 spread on the surface to be gilt. Then in a 



great heat the mercury was burned off leaving An early German Cruciform 

 the gold firmly fixed to the underlying metal. watch case 



Because of the noxious fumes sent 

 forth during this operation, the 

 process is now forbidden by law in 

 nearly every country. In fire-gild- 

 ing, the gold takes a peculiarly 

 tight hold upon the base and can 

 be burnished in a way that electro- 

 plated gold cannot stand. The 

 top and bottom of the face plate 

 are engraved with an intricate ara- 

 besque pattern, while the dial it- 

 self is quite elaborate. 



As in all the early watches, there 

 is but one hand. In this particular 

 case the hand is in the form of a 

 serpent. Sun rays flare outward 



Face and back of French watch made in Paris, 1 765. 



The face is enameled in color in relief. Bezel and 



bow inlaid with rubies and diamonds. The back is 



richly enameled in parti-colored relief 



from the centre of the disk to the first of the 

 four enclosing concentric circles. In the first 

 circle are shown the hours from thirteen to 

 twenty-four, Arabic numerals. The next cir- 

 cle has the hours from one to twelve in Roman 

 numerals. The third circle indicates the sixty 

 minutes in Arabic numerals, and the outermost 

 circle with four Roman numerals, represents 

 the quarters of the day. On the inside of the 

 cover, enclosed with an oblong oval scrolled 

 strapwork border, the engraved figure of the 

 Risen Lord standing on a sphere is crude in 

 drawing but full of vitality. On the outside of 

 the cover is a figure of the Madonna, also 

 crude but vigorous in execution. The effect of 

 both figures is somewhat damaged by the hole 

 drilled through the centre of the cover. 



It is not only in this watch, but many of 

 the others of early make, that we find evi- 

 dences of the strongly religious feeling of 

 the period in the subjects chosen 

 for decorating covers and dials. 

 Sometimes whole biblical incidents 

 are depicted, sometimes the instru- 

 ments of the Passion or devices of 

 sacramental significance. Again 

 we find admonitory verses anent 

 the shortness and uncertainty of 

 this fleeting life and, occasionally, 

 whole cases are made in the form 

 of a skull, this sombre emblem of 

 mortality being suggested by asso- 

 ciation with the idea of the flight 

 of time. 



Watch cases were made in all 

 manner of fantastic and grotesque 



Four early German watches remarkable for their bridge-work. The watch to the extreme left has a striking movement with bell inside the cover 



