Tool, spring dividers

By around 1790 the London horological industry enjoyed global dominance. As the eighteenth century progressed and consumer demand increased a major subdivision of labour took place in the London trade. Greater specialisation and productivity required a wider range of tools and machinery. By the beginning of the nineteenth century most specialists lived and worked in the Clerkenwell area. These artisans manufactured components or finished watches for the big firms in the Cities of London and Westminster.

The assembly of watch movements was painstaking as the components were very small. Specialist tools, such as these spring dividers used for marking measurements, were essential. The manufacturer, Peter Stubs, began making files in a small workshop at his inn in Warrington in around 1788. As the pace of industrialisation stimulated demand for tools he opened a larger workshop and warehouse in 1802. Stubs was able to tap both the growing domestic market and to export tools for sale in the United States.