RARE 1 of 550 Antique 1898 Solid Silver Thomas Hewitt Lancashire Pocket Watch

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RARE 1 of 550 Antique 1898 Solid Silver Thomas Hewitt Lancashire Pocket Watch :
$125.00

From Connecticut watch craftsman estate: Very rare Circa 1898 Thomas Peter Hewitt Lancashire Pocket Watch. Very clean workings and face. Sterling Silver. Probably needs adjustment. 348893. ONE OF ONLY 550 WATCHES MADE. Lion, shield, \"tph\" P\" hallmarks. Workington Lockhart markings and #348455 serial number on workings.Chester hallmarks for 1898, and the 1899 casemaker\'s mark for Hewitt
Thomas Peter Hewitt, (Director, Lancashire Watch Case Co Ltd), The watch Factory, Warrington Rd, Precot, Lanc\'s.
T.P. Hewitt invented the Keyless winding mechanism, and was one of the founding members of the Lancashire Watch Company, an attempt to rejuvenate the industry by using proven manufacturing methods developed in America. The Lancashire Watch Company enjoyed some success, but was forced to close in 1910, as it was unable to compete with the watchmaking industries of America and Switzerland.
Here are a few details from a kind watch collector:\"Your watch was actually sold to Sam. Wolffe in a L.W.Co case . The date allocated for manufacture was 12.12. ? and I assume this to be 1898 . It appears to have been invoiced on 26 Jan ? which I assume is 1899. As you say the ledgers are quite difficult to read in certain areas...... The 348,893 was sold to JGGraves but that is another story....The reference to Lockhart and Workington is not in the ledgers so I assume it was sold on to them later as a retailer.
Here are the details on this watch direct from the original ledger, thanks to Lancashire museum:\"I have had a look in our digital copy of the ledgers, and 348893 is listed as a “16sz Dummy”16sz is the size of the movement, in the medium-large end of the scale, measuring 4.32mm in diameter.
Dummy: This relates to the way the movement works – when fusee watches were replaced with a going barrel (your\'s had a going barrel), there was one less wheel in the movement, so it wound the opposite way to the way everyone was used to, so people ended up breaking their watches. An extra “dummy” wheel was fitted, basically taking up space in the watch so that it wound in the same direction as older watches that everyone was used to.
LWCo also developed the reversing pinion, which allowed the wheel to slip if it was wound the wrong way and prevented any damage to the watch.
It was bought by J.G Graves, a Sheffield jeweller and retailer that bought thousands of movements from the Lancashire Watch Company over the years of various types. (Sometimes the dials of the watches have their company details on them). They advertised their watches in magazines, so it could have been a mail order purchase by the original owner....They bought around 550 of this type within the 348001-349000 number range.They were invoiced for the watch in December 1898.I can’t tell what type of case it was sold to them in, or if it was “movement only” for J.G Graves to case themselves as that box is blank, sadly. The ledgers can be quite hit and miss regarding levels of detail.\"
As response shows buyers are satisfied.