Two-tier mahogany deck box with brass insert holding the watch in a brass drum under a screwed brass bezel. The watch has a coarse nickel winding crown and brass push-piece for hand setting at one o’clock. The two-piece, centre seconds white enamel, has black roman numerals, Arabic five minute figures, and is signed below XII: ‘KULLBERG / LOND / 9287’. Polished blued steel spade and poker hands with a fine pointer blued steel seconds hand with a counter poised tail. Gilt-brass half-plate keyless going barrel movement with four turned pillars fixed with polished and blued steel screws. The top of the half plate is engraved: ‘Victor Kullberg, 105 Liverpool Road London / ↑ / No.9287’. It has a club-tooth lever escapement with free-sprung compensation balance and blued steel spiral balance spring, with overcoil. Jewelled to the centre wheel.

The rough movement for the watch was first supplied to Kullberg’s by Preston’s in July 1917. Finishing work took place steadily through 1917, until May 1918 when the Admiralty ordered the watch. It was delivered the same month, costing £20 12s 6d. The watch was in Navy service through until 1924 when it was sold to the Union of South Africa. From there it found its way back into Royal Observatory ownership (probably via the Cape Observatory) and remained in Royal Observatory ownership until their closure in 1998, when it was transferred to the NMM.

Victor Kullberg (1824-90) was born in Visby on the Island of Gotland, Sweden. He was trained by the Swedish chronometer maker Victor Soderburg in Stockholm in 1840 and emigrated to London in 1851, having moved to his permanent address at 105 Liverpool Road, N1, by 1870. During his lifetime Kullberg gained many medals and awards for his chronometers and enjoyed a truly international reputation. As well as supplying many foreign governments, he regularly submitted chronometers for the Annual Trials at Greenwich Observatory, gaining first place in 1864 with a chronometer fitted with his newly invented ‘flat rim’ balance. His inventions included several designs of compensation balance and improvements to keyless winding for pocket watches. He also designed the automatic gas-governor for controlling the temperature of the chronometer testing ovens at the Observatory. More than 500 chronometers by Kullberg were supplied to the Royal Navy alone and he can be said to have been one of the 19th century’s finest chronometer makers. On Kullberg’s death in 1890 the firm was taken over by George and Peter Wennerstrom, themselves succeeded by Sanfrid Lundquist who had joined the firm in 1894 and who moved the firm to Cranford in Middlesex in 1938, trading under the name of Victor Kullberg until his death in 1947).