Eighteenth-century England was fertile ground for horological innovation. While London shone through its great workshops, the provinces—such as Exeter—were home to gifted artisans who upheld a more intimate tradition, nourished by elegance and invention.

Edward Upjohn belongs to this lineage of regional watchmakers who, far from the major centres, combined decorative refinement with mechanical rigour. His watches—now rare—reflect the pastoral taste and pursuit of perfection that marked this pivotal era, between late Baroque and the first impulses of Classicism.

The outer case in yellow gold is finely repoussé-worked and hand-chased, adorned with a pastoral scene in the Rococo vocabulary: musician, scrolling foliage, architectural motifs and sculptural volumes.

The movement, typical of 18th-century English production, relies on a verge escapement coupled with a fusee-and-chain system. The latter compensates for the mainspring’s loss of force as it unwinds, ensuring a steadier rate and improving isochronism. The large balance, of impressive diameter, animates the watch with a majestic rather than precise cadence—reflecting a time when reliability counted more than absolute accuracy.

One of its most remarkable features is the skeletonised balance cock, hand-pierced with a jeweller’s saw (bocfil), then finely hand-engraved and chased. A true brass lacework, it illustrates the decorative art and virtuosity of English watchmakers, capable of transforming a functional plate into a piece of goldsmith’s art.

The gilt dial combines Roman numerals for the hours and Arabic numerals for the minutes in a subtle balance of clarity and elegance. The blued hands, delicately shaped, enhance the warmth of the gilt ground.

Taken together, décor and mechanics embody an ideal of watchmaking in which mechanics become sculpture, and where every detail—from the openworked cock to the fusee chain—testifies to the constant dialogue between science and art.