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HI Can someone please help me identify this pocket watch that has just come in my possession I have been doing some research and going by the markings... i can date this to 1777 and possibly London Hallmark. Sterling .925 Silver... BUT I cannot make out who is the maker... I think the initials are JC. The emblem is a Lion and I can only make out what looks like a shield a possible Lion face. The b going by the letter chart dates to 1777... If I'm wrong then please correct me...
Any help on solving the initials would be most grateful.... A few names have occurred but I cannot see these markings anywhere else...
I have added the two pics below.
MANY THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HELP IN ADVANCE !! :)

Hi,

Welcome to the Forum.

I'm stumped by this one. I keep looking, it should be easy to find, but unless I'm missing the obvious....

I'll move your post to the unrecorded marks forum, we'll see if we have any joy there.

Trev.

Could this be the rather unfortunately named Jasper Cunst ?

He entered an incuse mark as a gold worker on 21 August 1776 (Grimwade p309) and on page 482 Grimwade states
"his main production may have been gold watchcases"

If the watchcase is gold, then Cunst is the prime suspect.
Even if if it is silver, he is a strong possibility.

For convenience I've clipped and embedded the marks from the prime posters image .

Jasper Cunst does indeed appear to be a prime candidate. Unfortunately Grimwade's book provides no images of some of the marks known to have been entered at Goldsmiths' Hall and two such were entered by Cunst.
In addition Grimwade mentions another apparently unregistered incuse mark "IC" found on a gold box inscribed "Iasper Cunst London" which had been presented in 1740 by the City of London to Admiral Vernon, presumably at the same time the admiral was granted the freedom of the City as a mark of his capturing the Spanish colonial possession of Porto Bello*.
Aside from identifying whether a mark was entered, or not entered, by Jasper Cunst is the question of which Jasper Cunst? Biographical detail has now been posted to the forum's "Grimwade's Biographies-Updates" to illustrate the problem.

Mike

*Incidentally it was Edward Vernon who ordered the watering down of the sailors' rum ration to curb drunkeness and who, because the water tasted so foul, ordered the addition of citrus juice to the mixture, achieving the unexpected result of his crews becoming healthier.
*With acknowledgements to Wikipedia.

Tradionally the lower deck rum ration was always called "Grog" supposedly in deference to Admiral Vernon, whose habit [pun} of wearing a cloak made of a material called grogam or groggam had earnt him the nickname of "Old Grog" . Grogam/groggam does not appear in the OED so one has no idea what it was !

The main reason for watering the rum ration down was to prevent it being saved, ("bottling your tot" ) to go on a real bender.

GROGRAM

A kind of coarse cloth of silk and mohair-The Chambers Dictionary 9th Edition page 654.

Mike

HI All,

Thanks so much for posting your comments and the knowledge you lot have is truly amazing... I have still not had any luck to ascertain if it is Jasper Cunst!!

Can anyone finally confirm the mysterious initials....???

Thanks

Sumjunks