Pinchbeck

Pinchbeck is an alloy of zinc and copper, in which the proportions slightly differ from those of ordinary brass, which has 2 parts of copper to 1 of zinc; but 4 of the former to 1 of the latter constitute pinchbeck, which has a reddish-yellow colour, and was at the beginning of the 19th century much employed in making watch-cases and other small articles in imitation of gold. It was named after its inventor, Christopher Pinchbeck, a London clockmaker, who died in 1732. The term is now but little used.