Historically, the term ‘Dutch forgery’ has referred to watches manufactured in the latter part of the eighteenth century, purporting to have been made in London and yet created with Dutch physical characteristics. It has long been believed that these watches were not made in London, hence the application of ‘forgery’, with the general assumption amongst antiquarian horologists being that Geneva was their true city of origin. These ‘Dutch forgery’ watches were not of a high quality, made no scientific contribution to our understanding of time and accuracy and as such, they have largely been condemned to the dark corners of horological research. They have been dismissed as fakes and forgeries regarded as holding little relevance to the course of horological history, and yet, as this study innovatively claims, they represent the birth of mass production in the watch industry. Over the course of the timeframe covered (1750-1820), they play an integral role in the commercialisation of the watch which shifted from an immensely valuable object of desire to a more attainable accessory. They started the journey towards making portable timekeepers accessible to all in the developed world, and yet their remarkable story has never been the subject of a detailed published study. At its heart, this thesis contains the most thorough physical examination of surviving examples of these watches conducted to date. Carried out by the author, these examinations benefit from the unique insight of a practising watchmaker in the twenty-first century, studying and interpreting the work of their predecessors. This evidence helps to distinguish these watches from others made during the same period, and, along with documentary evidence, leads to a new understanding of where they were made and also their dissemination and their destination markets. The opening chapters of this thesis outline the cultural role of forgery in an age of imitation, before exploring the political, socio-economic, technological and cultural influences which gave ...