S# 21,572 - Nickel-plated, damascened Model 1862 movement, circa 1868, Howard's highest grade movement of the period, costing $125.00 wholesale, with 15 jewels in white gold screwed-down settings and Mershon's patented compound regulator. Movement # 21,572 is one of four known examples of the first run of nickel-plated damascened Model 1862 movements that began at S# 21,561. Of the total of about 140 nickel-plated damascened Model 1862 movements, only this first run of just fewer than twenty had Mershon's regulator. These movements also have decoratively engraved balance cocks, whereas later nickel-plated runs have ray-damascened balance cocks. Only the damascened Model 1862 movements - both the gilded and the nickel-plated varieties - have ornately engraved pallet bridges. S# 21,572 is in its original, 18K gold, patented Baldwin reversible case, bearing the 1858 patent date engraved on an interior case surface. The dial and outer case surface have matching monograms: "S.B." The monogram on the dial shows a stylized "S" rotating around the central spoke of the "B," in an abstract representation of the Baldwin reversible case mechanism. These facts make it highly likely that this watch was owned personally by Samuel Baldwin, the inventor and patentee of the reversible case. This later example of the reversible case mechanism incorporates all locking and lifting functions into the motion of the crown. When the crown is depressed, the front lid is unlocked and lifted, and the movement ring also is released. This arrangement obviates the need for the separate release button on the case rim that was employed in the earlier version of the mechanism.
