A Treatise on Watch-Work, Past and Present

Pocket Watch Workshop

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At around 300 pages this is a book well worth reading. Rev Nelthropp wrote it to fill, what he perceived to be, a gap in the market place; in 1873 Reid’s book was nearly 50 years’ old (and scarce) and it would be another decade or more before the boom in horological publishing.

He wrote it after extensive research and visits to watchmakers in Switzerland, France and England (his particular thanks went to George Blackie). His language is a little inaccessible at times and he does get too technical for my taste but, to compensate, there are four chapters at the end which contain some fascinating contemporary accounts of Clerkenwell and the watch trade; “More watches are ruined by the complete incapacity of the workmen than by fair wear and tear”!

Published in London and New York, this book fits between the earlier and later publishing booms of the Nineteenth Century.

It’s all logically laid out, but can be a little heavy going at times.

Rev. H. L. Nelthropp, M.A., F.S.A., 1873