Without a doubt, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the finest watches in the world were being produced by British makers. The present Wright & Craighead “Grande Complication” combining a minute repeater, split-seconds chronograph, and perpetual calendar with moon phase, is a true masterpiece from the turn of the 20th century.

Stamped with London hallmarks for 1904 on the case, the watch features a slide mechanism at 6 o’clock for the repeater, chiming the hours, quarters, and minutes on two gongs. The split-seconds chronograph is activated by two pushers at 11 and 1 o’clock with the elapsed time indicated via the 60-minute recorder within the sub-dial at 12 o’clock that is combined with the leap year indication and months of the year.

Supplied by Nicole, Nielson & Co., one of the leading suppliers of exceptional mechanisms of the era, movement number 11’829 is signed by British watchmakers Wright & Craighead. Very little is known about Wright & Craighead; however, research shows that Thomas Daniel Wright (1847-1933), a third-generation watchmaker took over the business of E.C. Bracebridge & Co. (watch and clock makers first established in 1780) in 1891 along with his partner William Craighead. Craighead sadly passed away in the following year, but Wright continued producing and retailing high grade watches under the combined name. Wright was also an instructor, as the head of the Horological Department of Northampton Polytechnic Institute in London, and was lauded for his achievements in horology even as late as 1929.
For an identical watch signed Smith & Son see Phillips New York, 9 June 2024, Lot 90, sold for $139,700.
For an identical watch signed Nicole Nielsen & Co. see Phillips Geneva, 11 May 2025, Lot 139.