Silver pocket watch, James Wild London circa 1795, working

Museum-quality and super rare, functional solid silver (acid-tested) luxury spindle pocket watch, presumably by the London watchmaker James Wild, Baille Page 342

A "pocket clock" was a medieval term for initially very large, egg-shaped pocket watches, which were carried "in the sack," i.e., in the trouser pocket. By the time this museum artifact was created around 1795, the Middle Ages were already over, but at 18 mm high, the clock is far more similar to a pocket clock than to the later, flat, open-faced form in which verge pocket watches were still made before the invention of the cylinder escapement.

Dial unrestored due to age with cracks and clear signs of age, Roman numerals, presumably hand-forged, artistically crafted hands in Breguet/drop style

Case diameter: 40mm, total weight: approx. 62g, original key no longer present, plastic crystal no longer original and with obvious signs of wear, should be replaced. Dial has significant chipping around the hand shaft, hands currently appear to be not quite parallel and need to be reset/aligned.

The museum artifact starts and runs smoothly, but has stopped in certain positions (accuracy not tested, which is irrelevant for a museum artifact of this quality anyway), cleaning/revision is recommended

EZ: 3 - good condition considering its age, probably in need of cleaning, clear signs of age and wear, dial unrestored with clear signs of wear, movement is starting to run

History of the pocket watch (source: Wikipedia):

A pocket watch (also called a sack watch) is a watch worn on a chain in a trouser or jacket pocket (a so-called dress-coat pocket watch). Ladies often wore pocket watches on a chain around their necks or waists. Pocket watches have largely gone out of fashion today. From around 1930, they were first replaced by wristwatches , and since the turn of the millennium, increasingly by mobile phones.

The development of pocket watches became possible after the invention of the spring drive in the early 15th century. The oldest surviving spring-driven clock (with the associated fusee as a time regulator) dates from around 1430 and is housed in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg as "The Clock of Philip the Good of Burgundy ." Until this time, mechanical clocks were powered by weights.

Around 1511, Peter Henlein (c. 1479–1542) from Nuremberg was one of the first German-speaking manufacturers to incorporate this spring drive, in conjunction with a spring brake escapement mechanism, into a portable clock. This enabled him to reduce the clock to pocket size. This pocket watch is shaped like a box (hence the name portable box clock) and was probably carried in a pouch. An example can be found in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg. The “invention” ^[1] was long attributed to Peter Henlein from Nuremberg (c. 1504/1509), but today researchers tend to assume a longer-lasting development; his clocks, however, are among the oldest surviving examples. Peter Henlein’s contribution to this is speculatively assumed by various parties as the inventor of the Stackfreed . However, these clocks are not called Nuremberg Egg because of their egg shape, as is still falsely claimed. The name is rather a corruption of “Aeurlein,” or little clock. What is certain, however, is that southern Germany, especially the two important trading cities of Nuremberg and Augsburg, was a center of early watchmaking .

The owner of one of the oldest surviving pocket watches (dated to 1530) is said to have been Philipp Melanchthon. 

The oldest depiction of a wearable clock can be found in the painting The Merchant George Gisze by Hans Holbein the Younger (1532). These pocket watches were made in the early days primarily in southern Germany, but also in France and probably in Italy. An early pocket watch (in the National Museum in Copenhagen) dates from 1533 and was probably made by Hans Zelltner, a Viennese court watchmaker. ^[3] These pocket watches – which were probably carried in pouches – initially developed into portable neck watches that were worn around the neck on a chain or ribbon (from 1530/40). Early portable clocks had balance escapements (either wheel or spoon). Due to the resulting inaccuracy , they were generally equipped with only one hand (hour hand). It was not until the middle of the 17th century that the first pocket watches with verge escapements were produced and then also equipped with a minute hand. Examples from the 16th century are very rare and can only be found in important clock collections .