Automaton Stull Pocket Watch. Circa 1885; Stull mechanics added 1986. An outstanding quarter repeating pocket watch of outstanding craftsmanship and quality, with an added Stull “mental miracle” feature. In performance, the mentalist makes a prediction. The performer then demonstrates that the blacksmith figures on the pocket watch strike their anvils and the watch chimes to reflect the time. The watch is handed to a spectator who confirms that the hands spin freely. The spectator closes the watch and spins the hands again, landing on a random time – a time even they do not know. Despite the “test conditions'' under which the hands are spun, and even though the watch is in the hands of the spectator when the crown is rotated – the mentalist’s prediction is proven to be accurate, first as announced by the chiming watch, then by the spectator’s opening it and inspecting the face. The performer has predicted the exact time on which the hands stopped – before they were spun.

The effect works without fail, and without the need of outside mechanics. The trick can be repeated immediately and with different results. The watch itself is an outstanding Victorian-era antique. It bears an engraved gilt silver dial with Roman numerals, hands of blued steel, and automaton figures crafted from rose gold. The figures strike an anvil at the center of the dial with their hammers, signifying the hour and the quarter hour. The timepiece rests in a fine 14-karat gold hunter style case, engraved to recto, verso, and interior, which was manufactured and hallmarked by the Brooklyn Watch Case Co. with Serial No. 120207. The band on the case is line turned. The Stull-style mechanism, expertly crafted and added to the watch, is signed and dated by the maker, “Thomas B. Freed, 1986.” A singularly spectacular piece of magical apparatus.