Newcastle-under-Lyme and London, United Kingdom · 1768 – 1852
Edward Massey
Partially verifiedLever escapement variants and ship's logs
Life & work
Edward Massey developed forms of the lever escapement, including crank-roller arrangements associated with his name, during the period in which the English lever was taking its production shape.
He also patented nautical instruments, a reminder that many horologists worked across instrument making generally.
Training, contributions & innovations
- Lever escapement variants used in early nineteenth-century English watches
- Patented nautical instruments
Inventions & patents
- Patent records exist for his escapement and instrument work; the specifications are the reliable source.
Signatures & markings on surviving work
- Signed watches and instruments survive; escapement form is often the better identifier.
Collecting significance
Signatures on historic work were applied by retailers and by later hands as well as by makers, so attribution should rest on the movement's construction and on documented provenance rather than on the name alone. A specialist opinion is worth obtaining before any purchase made on the strength of a signature.
Related photographs
No confidently matched photograph of this subject has been found yet. These photographs show a closely related record, and are not examples of the type described on this page.
Sources & references
- Britten, F. J., Old Clocks and Watches and Their Makers
- Loomes, B., reference works on British and European clockmakers (edition-dependent)
- Museum catalogue entries for signed examples
Where sources disagree, the disagreement is stated rather than resolved silently.