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SO HERE WE GO...

* * * Please see and read all the details that follow on this RARE, early antique, VICTORIAN / CIVIL WAR PERIOD timepiece, produced by a fine HISTORIC English/Swiss Watchmaking Firm!
Complete with the Original, Large & Heavy Duty beautifully designed and SOLID SILVER, HUNTER CASE, produced in the finest watchmaking traditions, with UNIQUE Scenes engraved on both Covers!
CRISP & CLEAN RUNNING condition, and with a UNIQUE, Intricately & FULLY ENGRAVED, 22 JEWEL MOVEMENT with RARE FEATURES ~ Must See * * *

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WONDERFUL AND RARE, 1860s, KEYWIND, SILVER HUNTER CASE, POCKET WATCH, PRODUCED BY THE HIGHLY RESPECTED AND FAMOUS TOBIAS FIRM OF LIVERPOOL & LONDON, AND PHILADELPHIA & NEW YORK. MAKERS OF HIGH GRADE WATCHES, CLOCKS, AND CHRONOMETERS !

SUPERBLY CRAFTED, LARGE (2.8 oz.) FULL SIZE, ORIGINAL CASE. TOP QUALITY BAR STYLE HIGH-GRADE ORIGINAL FULLY JEWELED & ENGRAVED RARE MOVEMENT. THE UNIQUE CASE FEATURES ENGRAVED SCENES ON BOTH COVERS ! !

RUNNING CONDITION - SUPERBLY CRAFTED EARLY LEVER ESCAPEMENT – FULLY (22) JEWELED HIGH GRADE MOVEMENT COMPLETE WITH COMPENSATED BALANCE WHEEL, AND EARLY ‘PARACHUTE’ STYLE SHOCK PROTECTION SUSPENSION ~ RARE! ! !

GENUINE ANTIQUE, LARGE, FULL SIZE, HEAVY DUTY, SERIOUS KEYWIND TIMEPIECE – IN GOOD CONDITION AND VERY SPECIAL – SEE IMAGES FOLLOWING THE FULL DESCRIPTION:

Here is a wonderful opportunity to acquire a VERY INTERESTING example of a RARE, handcrafted & ornate Pocket Watch of the Victorian and Civil War Periods produced by a well known and regarded firm. Very well crafted, equipped with a VERY high quality, 22 Jewel Movement, and housed in a beautiful & heavy, Solid SILVER (even the movement dust cover!) HUNTER Case. Well balanced and proportioned, this fine LARGE & FULL SIZE (equivalent to at least an American Railroad Grade 16 Size!) timepiece measures a solid 49.5mm (about 2") in diameter, 14mm (just over 1/2") thick, and weighs 2.8 Ounces (79 Grams!)
It is, indeed, a high quality, superior grade precision Pocket Watch that would have been considered quite a UNIQUE & LUXURIOUS, not to mention, expensive piece in its day.

This antique keywind Pocket Watch dates around the early 1860s, and is a genuine work of master craftsmanship. Produced by the English Firm of Tobias & Co., who were very well known and highly regarded for their innovative work in Pocket Watches and Ships Chronometers, this piece represents the very fine and quality watchmaking art and manufacturing of the period. The ‘TOBIAS’ name was well regarded, and has a proud history of providing quality watchmaking and fine timepieces throughout the 1800s, producing tens of thousands of watches for markets all around the world.

The Tobias family has long been associated with the finer aspects of horological development, and has a proud heritage dating back to the very early 1700s!
The legacy began with Morris Tobias, who started his watchmaking business at 68 Bell Dock Yard, Wapping, East London, around 1728. He was an excellent maker and quick to grasp new ideas and methods. The firm was highly successful and grew as other family members took into the trade and expanded the scope of operations. By 1804 the business was known as, ‘Tobias & Co. Liverpool and London’. Several patents were granted to the firm, including No. 3584 in 1812, which was a binacle timepiece to show the time on board ship by ships’ bells. They specialized in high-grade Lever Watches, Standard Chronometers, and even produced barometers.
It is also during this period that one of the best known of the Tobias family was most active, that being one Michael Isaac Tobias, who was the great nephew of Morris.

Michael Isaac apprenticed to his father, Lewis. He was very skilled at the craft and by 1810 headed the firm which now traded as, ‘M.I. Tobias & Co. Liverpool’, and was located at 22 Lord Street, Liverpool. By the early 1820s, the firm was selling their Watches and Chronometers to America. This was accomplished through their agent, Michael Edidin, who established the Firm’s presence in New York and Philadelphia. Their products were very well received, and soon in high demand. Therefore from about 1829 onwards, they specialized in exporting timepieces to the USA, and shortly afterwards also established another branch of operations at 31 Minories, East Central London. The high quality pieces designed with Swiss style cases and movements were usually marketed under the M.J. Tobias name.

The family business continued to flourish throughout the rest of the 1800s, and became well known and highly regarded throughout the world. The ‘TOBIAS’ name certainly carries a proud legacy, and fine tradition of high quality craftsmanship, combined with a wonderful sense of style and leading edge manufacture. Most Tobias pieces that survive today are from the much later years of the firm. In fact, the firm’s busiest period was from around 1850 – 1890, supplying many watches to the U.S. market. The majority of watches they produced during this time were in Silver cases with high quality Swiss movements. The workmanship of the piece is high grade, and easily comparable in quality to what the other top firms (i.e. Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin, Breguet, Audemars etc.) were producing in the mid-1800s.

This Watch is a genuine example of leading edge manufacture that is complete with its ORIGINAL, Solid SILVER HUNTER CASE. A Hunter Case (for those not familiar with the term) has an additional solid cover over the face, whereas a typical Open Face Watch does not. This front cover (to conceal and protect the dial) is opened by first pressing down on the pendant of the Watch. It is a Case style that was preferred by noblemen, and is still very popular and desirable to this day. In fact, it is often characteristic of what people expect when they think of a Pocket Watch.

Hunter Cases are sought after, and always more valuable, also due to that simple fact that they contain MORE Precious Metal (the extra solid front cover), than a typical open face watch.

The quality, triple hinged, Hunter Case is still in pretty good condition throughout, and is a nice sight to see and hold. It has worn somewhat smooth over the years, yet has no major dents or problems, with only some minor surface wear/marks that are typical in a Watch Case that has been handled, carried regularly in the pocket at one time, and having survived for around 140 years. The HEAVY DUTY FULL SIZE Case is obviously well designed, has excellent proportions and balance, and has a feel of substance and top quality HEFT in the hand.

The front cover features a scene of a lone SOLDIER looking off to the distance, maybe to the battlefield, or perhaps looking back, towards his home town. The detail on the rear cover is much sharper, and features a village scene, next to a river, with a bridge in the background. Together, the images make for a touching and somber scene, relating to home life and Military Service of the period.

The hinges are still working very well, and the covers all open and close smoothly. The front cover is spring loaded, and still pops open, as it should, with a firm press of the pendant button. You should be able to get an idea of the overall condition and quality of the Case from the images below. It is difficult to photograph Silver (it's so bright & shiny); any wavy lines or distortions you may see are from the light reflections, and not actually on the Watch itself. I have tried to provide good pictures, including the front, back, and inside of the Watch.

The timepiece is fronted with a Handcrafted, Bright White Enamel Dial. It is still in pretty fair condition for a Watch of its age, with a noticeable chip repair between the one and two, and smaller edge chip at the nine. Even so, it remains clear and legible, and looks not too bad, as the pictures should show. It has bold Black Roman numerals and Minute Chapter Ring, along with a Subsidiary Seconds Dial at the bottom. The dial is fronted with a clear, replacement acrylic crystal.

The Hand Finished, Lepine Bar-Style Movement is certainly the SHOWCASE of this piece. HIGHLY (22) JEWELED and FULLY ENGRAVED throughout, complete with going barrel, it is ORIGINAL, and still in EXCELLENT condition for its vintage, and obviously extremely well crafted to a high degree! It is a true testament to the high quality and craftsmanship, to still be RUNNING STRONG, even after more than one-and-a-half Centuries! Although there are no guarantees with such an antique timepiece, and I do not know when it was last serviced, however it should be able to RUN VERY WELL if treated properly and not jostled around too much; keeping in mind that it is an antique timepiece. It has been running solidly, KEEPING TIME, for the past several days here on the desk. Therefore, I am sure once the old oil is cleaned out, and with a fresh lubrication, it should continue to perform reliably, even as a regular daily timekeeper (if so desired) with good results. I am offering this wonderful and highly collectable, UNIQUE & IMPORTANT Pocket Watch with a low reserve – it will sell to the bidder/collector who wants it most!

It certainly stands apart from the much more common, average grade movements you usually come across in Watches from this period. Also of note, the majority of Watches made at the time were still quite large, and bulky. The demand for high quality Watches that were thinner continued to grow, especially from the more fashion conscious clientele. What we now take for granted in a slim timepiece was still quite rare in the mid 1800s, with many Watches still over 3/4" thick, and more.
In order to facilitate a smaller size, the traditional Full Plate movement design would not do. The answer came in a bar/bridge arrangement that was first developed by the famous French Watchmaker Jean-Antoine Lepine around 1790. It was a design of individual bridges, which allowed for much thinner Watches, especially when combined with the newer escapements such as the Cylinder or Lever. The shape, style, and arrangement of these bridges evolved over the years and are useful in dating a piece. The design found in this Watch is a finely finished and very high-grade form which was used in top quality pieces pre-dating stem winding. This form was in use from the early 1860s until around 1870. Later on the bars became more in-line with each other, straight sided and much plainer.

It is equipped with an excellent example and top execution of the High Quality, Fully TWENTY TWO (22) JEWELED, Lever escapement. Most similar Watches from this period were made with the much more common Cylinder escapement, have way fewer jewels, and are less robust. This movement has the much more precise, and desirable Fully Jeweled LEVER escapement with a highly POLISHED STEEL club tooth escape wheel. The LEVER itself is of an EARLY design, with right-angle lever & pallets (look at the picture to see this special arrangement). This is more rare to find, (most Swiss Levers are made in a straight-line design with forked pallets), and this also helps to date the manufacture to the early 1860s - a truly beautiful movement !

The roller table supports a JEWELED, impulse/unlocking pin, and mates to a true running COMPENSATED & TIMED BALANCE WHEEL. This in itself is another interesting feature, and sign of higher quality, as Watches of this period typically have a plain, three-arm brass balance wheel. This Watch is equipped with a much more rare and high grade, Balance Wheel, which has been adjusted and timed. To ensure the balance was running as true as possible under all conditions, it was finely measured, fitted, and tuned with tiny screws around the rim. As you can imagine, this whole process of manufacture and adjustment was quite expensive, and time consuming; therefore it is normally found only on the more expensive, and serious, high-grade movements.
The evenly pulsing hairspring (balance spring) is adjusted by means of a Polished Steel regulator, in reference to an engraved index on the balance cock.
To top it all off, is one more very RARE, High Performance feature that it is referred to as a "PARACHUTE SUSPENSION". One of the most common problems to occur if a Watch is shocked or dropped, is the breaking/or damage to the very delicate and precise Balance Staff Pivots. A solution to prevent this from happening was invented by one of the greatest horologists of all time, Abraham Louis Breguet in the early 1790s. The ‘Parachute (as he so named it) Suspension’ (shock absorber) consists of mounting the end-stones of the balance staff on arms of spring steel, long enough to have considerable elasticity. If the watch is subjected to extreme shock, the Parachute will generally give sufficiently to prevent damage to the balance staff and save the movement. Once again, this involved a lot of extra craftsmanship & expense, and is a VERY RARE device to find on any Watch movement.

In order to better show some of these RARE, and in their day, very advanced features, I have tried to provide good images of the movement. You should be able to see the early style LEVER (with right-angle pallets), the COMPENSATED BALANCE Wheel (with timing screws around the rim), and the Polished Steel PARACHUTE SUSPENSION, holding down the JEWELED End-Stone. And just to finished it off, the ENTIRE Movement is INTRICATELY ENGRAVED THROUGHOUT (the main plate, bridges, mainspring barrel etc.) ~ Just think how much time and effort it took to do such fine and elegant work - WOW ! ! !

Overall, the degree of quality and craftsmanship is just STUNNING (about as collectable as you can get) ~ and it sounds great (solid & crisp) as it runs!

The Bright SILVER Cuvette (movement dust cover) has a Wonderful & RARE, DOUBLE-EAGLE Cartouche (fancy shield design), which has not been initialed, nor has the watch been personalized in any manner.

The remainder of the cuvette is signed by the maker, "ANCRE" (referring to the special high grade Lever escapement), "22 Rubis" (indicating the movement pivots are all Jeweled with a total of 22 RUBIES & SAPPHIRES ~ an EXTREMELY high JEWEL Count for the period!!!)

Next is the Maker’s Signature, "TOBIAS", "LONDON", then "PARACHUTE & COMPENSATEUR" (referring to these special high-grade, SPECIAL movement features).

It is also important to know that most Watches of this period are not signed at all, and merely carry a number on the plate, if anything. A signed piece of work is generally of the highest quality (telling everyone who made it, so it must look and function well) and is also, therefore, more rare and collectable – especially by such a known maker from this early period, with a Heavy Duty Full Size SUBSTANTIAL CASE, and with a Very HIGH JEWELED & SPECIALLY FEATURED Movement ! ! !

Ultimately, this is a very nice, early, KEYWIND POCKET WATCH, and a fine example of a HEAVY DUTY & FULL SIZE high quality UNIQUE timepiece of the mid-1800s. If you are a collector, have an interest in Rare Watches, or historical items of the Victorian and/or Civil War Period, this presents a good example of a truly antique timepiece that not only looks interesting but also is genuine and quality throughout. It is, indeed, a very fine piece of horological history, from a very famous and world renowned manufacture!

Nice Early KEYWINDS themselves are very desirable, and are becoming more and more rare. Even the ANTIQUE Winding & Setting Key (as pictured) for the Watch is INCLUDED. I will also provide a sheet of information on the care, operation, and handling of such a timepiece for those who may not be too familiar with those procedures.

Please note, this is an as is, sale final, LOW RESERVE Auction, so feel free to bid, with a good chance of owning this very desirable and RARE & UNIQUE, Antique (about 140 year old) Pocket Watch! Such SPECIALIZED early examples do not come available very often, and this presents a great opportunity for you to acquire a high quality, Genuine Tobias timepiece with RARE FEATURES ! !

Shipping via Priority Mail, within the U.S. is FREE, and the successful bidder will pay for Insurance. Shipping outside the U.S. is based on a standard cost. I accept bids from, and ship, worldwide with the exception of Indonesia, Italy and Nigeria.

Prompt COMMUNICATION & PAYMENT (INSTANT PayPal, not eCheck, with Confirmed Address) is REQUIRED from the winning bidder IMMEDIATELY following auction close.

I have supplied a number of images (fourteen following this text) to help provide a good view of the many wonderful aspects of this fine piece; please be patient as they load for you. The entire text and images are COPYRIGHTED. If all the images do not come up completely, hit the ‘Reload’ or ‘Refresh’ button on your browser to bring them up again.






























THIS ANTIQUE TIMEPIECE IS INDEED A WONDERFUL COMBINATION OF RARE BEAUTY AND SPECIALIZED, UNIQUE CASE & MOVEMENT DESIGN ~ VERY UNUSUAL AND HIGHLY COLLECTABLE ! ! !

This presents a great opportunity for you to acquire a high quality, Genuine Tobias timepiece with several RARE FEATURES. There are many surviving Tobias Timepieces around, but it is unlikely that you will ever find another exactly like this SPECIAL Piece ! !

Enjoy eBay, Take Care, and Good Luck Bidding!