London, England · 1810 – 1871
Charles Frodsham
VerifiedMarine chronometers and precision escapements
Life & work
Charles Frodsham was among the most highly regarded English chronometer makers of the Victorian period, appointed Chronometer Maker to the Admiralty and to Queen Victoria. He worked initially with, and eventually took over, aspects of the business associated with the celebrated chronometer maker John Roger Arnold, consolidating several strands of the English precision-watchmaking tradition into his own firm.
Frodsham's chronometers repeatedly performed well in the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, chronometer trials that were the period's benchmark test of precision timekeeping, and his firm was noted for careful, high-grade finishing consistent with the best English tradition at a time when Swiss and later American manufacturers were beginning to challenge English pre-eminence in volume production.
The firm Charles Frodsham & Co. has continued in various forms into the present day as a specialist maker; as with other historic English names, claims about 'Frodsham' work should specify whether the piece dates from Charles Frodsham's own lifetime or from a later phase of the firm's history.
Timeline
Charles Frodsham's recorded dates, dated events from this profile and its sources, and dated pieces and sales from the object catalogue. Dates are as each record gives them.
1810 · Career
Born
1838-1843 · Catalogued piece
circa 1850 · Catalogued piece
c. 1860 · Catalogued piece
1871 · Career
Died
circa 1873 · Catalogued piece
Training, contributions & innovations
- Produced chronometers that performed strongly in Greenwich Observatory precision trials
- Served as chronometer maker to the Admiralty and the Crown
- Sustained the English high-precision chronometer tradition through the mid-Victorian period
Inventions & patents
- Frodsham's firm is associated with various escapement refinements and precision adjustments; specific patent numbers are not confirmed in the sources consulted and are omitted rather than assumed.
Signatures & markings on surviving work
- Chronometers and watches signed 'Charles Frodsham, London' with observatory trial numbers where applicable
Collecting significance
Genuine nineteenth-century Frodsham chronometers with documented Greenwich trial results are especially prized; provenance research should establish which period of the long-running firm produced a given piece.
Firms, key models & movements
Firms
- Charles Frodsham & Co. · 1834
- Charles Frodsham · 1834
- Parkinson & Frodsham · 1801
In the object catalogue
9 catalogued objects are recorded under Charles Frodsham. Attributions are as given by each source and are not independent authentication.
- Charles Frodsham & Co. Yellow Gold Hunting Cased Key Wound WatchHunter-case watch · circa 1865
- Charles Frodsham 18ct gold openfaced keywound pocket chronometerPocket chronometer & deck watch · 1860
- Charles Frodsham 18K gold lever chronometer pocket watchPocket chronometer & deck watch · circa 1873
- Charles Frodsham 18K Gold Pocket ChronometerPocket chronometer & deck watch · 1865-1866
- Charles Frodsham Box ChronometerMarine chronometer (duration not stated) · 1838-1843
- Charles Frodsham Eight Day Astronomical Regulator ClockRegulator · 1865
- Charles Frodsham Marine ChronometerTwo-day marine chronometer · circa 1850
- Charles Frodsham Two-Day Marine Chronometer No. 2819Two-day marine chronometer · c. 1860
- Early Victorian Mahogany Astronomical Regulator by Charles FrodshamRegulator · Mid-19th Century
Provenance
Where the 9 catalogued pieces by Charles Frodsham were recorded, with the collectors, owners and sales their records name.
Provenance map
Each piece is linked to the museum, auction house or dealer whose record it comes from, and to any other house or collection its own provenance names. Select a name to see its pieces.
Museums · 2 pieces
Auction houses · 6 pieces
Dealers & other listings · 1 piece
Antiquorum
Auction house · 2 pieces · Directory entry
Charles Frodsham 18K Gold Pocket ChronometerPocket chronometer & deck watch · 1865-1866 · Record source
Antiquorum: lot 315
Charles Frodsham Marine ChronometerTwo-day marine chronometer · circa 1850 · Record source
Antiquorum: lot 29
Auction history
| House | Sale & lot | Object |
|---|---|---|
| Sotheby's | lot 82 | Charles Frodsham & Co. Yellow Gold Hunting Cased Key Wound Watch |
| Bellmans | lot 1690 | Charles Frodsham 18ct gold openfaced keywound pocket chronometer |
| Auktionen Dr. Crott | lot 181 | Charles Frodsham 18K gold lever chronometer pocket watch |
| Antiquorum | lot 315 | Charles Frodsham 18K Gold Pocket Chronometer |
| Antiquorum | lot 29 | Charles Frodsham Marine Chronometer |
| Christie's | lot 108 | Early Victorian Mahogany Astronomical Regulator by Charles Frodsham |
Each line is copied from the object's source record and is not independently verified. Holders are as recorded when the piece was catalogued: museum objects may not be on display, and sold lots have since changed hands.
Photographs
Photographs are illustrative examples of the type, not necessarily the exact object described. Verify details against the source file page.
Sources & references
- Royal Observatory Greenwich chronometer trial records
- Vaudrey Mercer, R. E., biographical works on nineteenth-century English chronometer makers
Where sources disagree, the disagreement is stated rather than resolved silently.