IMPROVEMENTS IN THE DIALS OF WATCHES AND CLOCKS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles John Hill, of Coventry, in the County of
Warwick, Watch Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE DIALS OF WATCHES AND CLOCKS."
Sealed the 24th October 1861, and dated the 26th April 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles John Hill at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th April 1861.
I, CHARLES JOHN HILL, of Coventry, in the County of Warwick, Watch
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE DIALS OF WATCHES AND CLOCKS," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in forming the dials of watches and clocks of a
material not bitherto adopted for such purposes. I propose employing (in lieu
of silver or materials plated with silver) dials formed of mother-o'-pearl, either
plain, surfaced, engine turned, or engraved, or otherwise ornamented, or where
the size of the dial will not admit of its being made in one piece, then' several
pieces may be- joined together in stars or other devices, so as to obtain a
smooth surface, which may be afterwards treated in the manner before
described; the cases or backs of watclics may likewise be manufactured of
this material and highly ornamented.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles John Hill in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
26th October 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, J, CHARLES
JOHN HILL, of Coventry, in the County of Warwick, Watch Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Charles John Hill, Her special licence that I, the said Charles
John Hill, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such other as I,
the said Charles John Hill, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time, and at all times
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE DIALS OF WATCHES AND CLOCKS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Charles John Hill, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of
their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed,
and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles John Hill, do hereby declare
my nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
This Invention consists in forming the dials of watches and clocks and other
indicators of time of a material not hitherto adopted for such purposes. I
employ (in lieu of enamel, silver, or gold, or other materials coated with
either of these metals) dials formed of shell, called pearl or mother-o'-pearl, either
plain surfaced, engine turned, or engraved, or otherwise ornamented, or where
the size of the dial will not admit of its being made in one piece, then several
pieces may be joined together in stars or other devices, so as to obtain a
smooth surface, which may be afterwards treated in the manner before

page_text: described. The cases or backs of watches may likewise be manufactured of
this material and highly ornamented.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention of
"Improvements in the Dials of Watches and Clocks," and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I would remark, in conclusion, that I do
not confine or restrict myself to any peculiar mode of applying pearl or
mother-o'-pearl to the dials or backs of watches or clocks; but what I claim
as my Invention intended to be secured to me by the herein-before in part
recited Letters Patent is, the manufacture of dials for watches or clocks of
the material known as pearl or mother-o'-pearl in any design or variety of
ornament, in the manner herein described and set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles John Hill, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of October, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
JOHN BAGSHAW,
Lower Ford Street,
Coventry.
CHARLES JOHN HILL. (L.S.)