James Stratton
Director
Lot 60
A good mid 20th century mahogany table chronometer Thomas Mercer, Eywood Rd St Albans
2 December 2025, 14:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street£3,000 - £5,000
Ask about this lot
Lewis Walduck
Cataloguer
A good mid 20th century mahogany table chronometer
Thomas Mercer, Eywood Rd St Albans
The rectangular case with overhanging moulded cornice with bevelled glazed inspection aperture and bubble level (liquid lacking) over glazed side apertures and a moulded base with applied silver plaque reading "To my Godfather from Anthony 2nd February 1936 to adjustable brass bun feet, the signed circular silvered Roman dial with minute band, original blued steel hands and stop/start lever at I, with subsidiary dial for running seconds and a further subsidiary for state of wind marked from 0 to 8 days, the high quality movement with substantial spotted plates united by elaborately turned pillars, screwed to the front and back, maintaining power to the chain fusee the large spotted platform with large freesprung helical hair spring to a cut and compensated bi-metallic balance with detent escapement. Sold with the original winding key. 28cms (11ins) high.
The rectangular case with overhanging moulded cornice with bevelled glazed inspection aperture and bubble level (liquid lacking) over glazed side apertures and a moulded base with applied silver plaque reading "To my Godfather from Anthony 2nd February 1936 to adjustable brass bun feet, the signed circular silvered Roman dial with minute band, original blued steel hands and stop/start lever at I, with subsidiary dial for running seconds and a further subsidiary for state of wind marked from 0 to 8 days, the high quality movement with substantial spotted plates united by elaborately turned pillars, screwed to the front and back, maintaining power to the chain fusee the large spotted platform with large freesprung helical hair spring to a cut and compensated bi-metallic balance with detent escapement. Sold with the original winding key. 28cms (11ins) high.
Footnotes
Thomas Mercer founded the eponymous firm in London in 1858 by Thomas Mercer (1822–1900), a figure whose work built upon the pioneering achievements of John Harrison and the great English chronometer makers of the 18th and 19th centuries. Mercer trained under John Fletcher in Clerkenwell before establishing his own workshop in Islington, later moving to St Albans in 1874. His chronometers performed with distinction at the Greenwich Trials, securing second place in 1881. His son, Frank Mercer, went on to win first prize in 1911 with No. 8306, purchased by the Astronomer Royal for the Greenwich Observatory.
The firm's reputation was further cemented when Sir Ernest Shackleton navigated the James Caird to South Georgia in 1916 using a Mercer chronometer during the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. By the late 20th century, Thomas Mercer Chronometers had produced nearly one-third of all marine chronometers ever made, becoming the most prolific chronometer manufacturer in history. Revived in 2012, the company today continues to produce bespoke, high-end chronometers with an emphasis on precision and craftsmanship for the modern luxury market.