Pocket watches · Escapement
Verge Watches
VerifiedWatches regulated by a verge (crown-wheel) escapement, in which a vertical staff carrying two pallets engages a horizontally mounted crown wheel.
Mechanism
The mainspring, moderated by a fusee in most English work, drives a train terminating in the crown wheel. The verge staff pallets alternately receive impulse and recoil, so the escapement never detaches from the train — friction is high and rate is sensitive to power variation.
Typical characteristics
- Deep, tall movement architecture to accommodate the vertical crown wheel
- Usually fusee-and-chain (or gut line) power transmission
- Pierced and engraved balance cock, often the most decorated part of the movement
- Large amplitude balance with no overcoil hairspring in earlier examples
Identification characteristics
- Crown wheel visible under the balance cock when the movement is lifted
- Fusee and chain or gut line beneath the top plate
- Pair-cased construction on many English examples
- Signature and serial number on the plate, frequently with the town of manufacture
Collector significance
The dominant portable escapement for over three centuries; essential to understanding all later escapement development.
Known variations
- Pair-cased verge
- Repeating verge
- Continental verge with engraved bridge cock
Photographs
Photographs are illustrative examples of the type, not necessarily the exact object described. Verify details against the source file page.
Sources & references
- Britten, F. J., Old Clocks and Watches and Their Makers
- British Museum, Clocks and Watches collection catalogue
Where sources disagree, the disagreement is stated rather than resolved silently.