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The Encyclopedia of Horology

London, England · 1780–1859

Edward Prior

Partially verified

Verge pocket watches for the Ottoman market

Life & work

Edward Prior was born in 1780 to the English watchmaker George Prior.

Following his father's death in 1814, Edward inherited the family watchmaking shop in London. Prior retired from the watch business by 1851, after which the operation was continued by William Chambers and later his son, George Chambers. The brand name persisted long after his retirement, with Swiss companies like Constant Piguet supplying watches under the Edward Prior name around 1900.

The fuller biography summarises the open references listed under Sources; each statement was checked against the cited passage. Confirm key dates in period documents before relying on them.

Documented works

  • A notable surviving piece is an 1817 gold-enamel triple-cased verge pocket watch, No. 42727, designed for the Ottoman market.

Collecting significance

The catalogued pieces listed on this page show the kinds of objects auction houses, dealers and museums attribute to this maker; each attribution is the source's own.

Firms, key models & movements

No firm, model or movement in this encyclopedia is yet recorded under this maker's name.

In the object catalogue

4 catalogued objects are recorded under Edward Prior. Attributions are as given by each source and are not independent authentication.

Diagram

12345let downstripcleanoilregulateorder of work; never skip letting down the mainspring
Schematic: order of work at the bench. An outline schematic drawn to show the arrangement of the parts discussed here. It is not a dimensioned working drawing and does not depict a particular maker's calibre.

Sources & references

  1. Prior, Edward, Watch-Wiki, retrieved 2026-11-03
  2. Prior, Edward/en, Watch-Wiki, retrieved 2026-11-03

Where sources disagree, the disagreement is stated rather than resolved silently.