Pocket watch and fob

Scope and content:

One gold pocket watch and fob that belonged to William Short. Short was a William and Mary Alumnus, as well a a founding member of Phi Beta Kappa. Short served as American Ambassador to Spain, the Netherlands, and France. Short served as Jefferson's private secretary whilst he was in France and Jefferson viewed Short as nearly a son This gold pocket watch is in beautiful condition. The outer case is gold, indicated by the small 18 stamped on the nub that connects the watch to the ring. The case uses a design of intersecting circles to create a rippling and textured effect. At the center of the front door are two flowers. The reverse of the case has a slightly different floral design with what appears to be space to inscribe initials. The front of the watch opens with the hinge at 9 o'clock. The face of the watch is white with black roman numerals for the hours. The hour hand is metal, perhaps gold. The minute hand is black metal and appears slightly bent. There is a smaller chronograph inset at 6 o'clock which uses standard numerals to time seconds. The inside of the case is stamped with the letters "C&E.T." along with what appears to be two stylized "D"s flanking a third unreadable letter. The case is also stamped with the number 7595. The rear door to the case opens off of a different hinge. The back of the watch has one hold for a winding key, but no inscriptions of any sort. The rear of the case is stamped with the same letters and numbers, as well as an additional tiny inscription which reads "D 1640" and appears to have been done by hand. The fob for this watch is gold metallic, although whether it is and if so what karat is undeterminable. The fob features a ring at the top connected to a small metal oval that encompasses a tiny shaft. In that tiny shaft a spring can be seen, although its purpose cannot be determined. The fob then extends down to a swiveling piece of translucent enamel or cut stone. The reverse of the stone has been etched with tiny letters which read [Quod Petis Hic Est] (What you seek is here, ie. you already have happiness- Horace) and perhaps initials of some sort above laurels. On one side of the frame of the stone piece has a tiny hole which matches with the spring, although it is unknown what the function was. Transferred from the William Short Papers, (Mss 39.2Sh9). An image is available at https://www.flickr.com/photos/scrc/5765577311/. Lcoated in Dec Obj S2, SS1, Box 12. Mss 39.2Sh9.A01a,b

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