I thought this would make an interesting talking point because you don't often see a watch with a womans name as the maker. watch Perhaps they have it wrong or more likely I am wrong again but I thought it was worth a mention anyway.

Britten's lists a lot of English watchmakers called Brown from this time period,
none of which was called Elizabeth Brown.

There was an Edward Brown, listed as an accomplished horologist
who was the head of the House of Breguet. Maybe the watch
in question was made by/for his wife ? Just a thought.

NOTE: Is there a street name engraved on the movement,
if so this would certainly narrow the search

I see the watch did not attract any bids. Perhaps it will come back again at a lower reserve. Getting back to my origional point is it unusual to see a watch with a ladies name as the maker? If Mrs Brown is not listed in the book would this indicate the someone else made the watch and put his wife as maker for some reason.

99% of English watch-making or cottage industry movements ( movements in the rough ) were made at Prescot in Lancashire, these rough movements were then sold to watchmakers in London and all over England. This system was used untill about 1870, and changed to factory-made ( ebauche ) movements.
Cooksey

Thanks Cooksey. I did know about the movements in the grey but did not know it was so wide spread through the industry. Perhaps it is just me but I find the fact that a womans name appears on an English watch in the 1860's interesting. This was a time when women in England were not allowed to vote. Convicts still got to vote but they did not. This was a time when the apprentice had to pay the master to learn a trade. I wonder how many qualified watchmakers of the day would have accepted a girl to train? How many fathers would pay out for their daughter to learn watchmaking in a society that would not have accepted such a radical idea. I know Mrs Brown did not make the watch but her name is still there. Did she finish it? If not why did someone else put her name there? Was it some kind of protest against the narrow attitudes of the time? I just thought it was interesting. Perhaps I am the only one.

quote:

Did she finish it?

Stephan, Hard to say if she finished it or not. Some of these "watch-makers" were more like a jewelry type shop, selling clocks and watches with thier name on the watch or clock. My best guess is no. She was not a famous watch-maker like Thomas Tompion who also purchased parts then completed the movement to his specifications.
Cooksey

Thanks for posting this thread and the photo's Stephan, certainly a good talking point.

A ladies name engraved on a watch (or dial come to that) isn't seen too often, but there certainly were female watchmakers around.

Additionally, there's probably no bigger mystery here than the probability her husband died (who was the original watchmaker) and the business simply continued in her name, which did happen frequently.
One such occurrence I know of is of Elizabeth Skarrat of the Skarrat watchmaking family, which business was subsequently bought by Kay's of Worcester.

Even if the lady wasn't the watchmaker, she would be able to employ a master watchmaker or journeyman to continue the work, And continue to engrave her name of the finished product.
Also, for every master watchmaker employed, could employ at least one apprentice if wished.

Given the date of the watch, it was actually illegal to engrave a name onto a dial or movement in that period if one wasn't 'Free of the Clockmakers Company' more commonly referred to as a 'Freeman'.

This rule was certainly applied rigidly within the envirions of the city of London boundary.
As far as I'm aware, this applied in the provinces also, as it seems it was common for a maker Not a 'Freeman' to do a moonlight flit from his garrett workshop to avoid being arrested for illegally signing his wares.

I believe the Clockmaker's company eventually lost its grip though when foreign imports gradually trashed the British watchmaking industry, following which, all and sundry were signing their stuff with complete impunity from prosecution.

This is my brief recollection of the situation, but if anyone can correct me or add anything, I'd certainly welcome the input.

Best regards

John