Lot 172

Vauchez

A charming Parisian gold enamel verge pocket watch with matching gold enamel chatelaine

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This beautiful piece of jewellery is has a border of pearls and gold guilloche ribbons with translucent blue enamelling. The back of the case is ornamented with a radial guilloche pattern, translucent cobalt blue enamel and applied gold stars. The same style elements are repeated in the oval medallion and the two pendants of the matching chatelaine.
A number of pocket watches signed "Vauchez à Paris" are owned by important museums such as the Louvre in Paris. The Vaucher (or Vauchez) family originally came from Fleurier and produced such a large number of skilled watchmakers that attributing the individual watches to their maker is very difficult. The best known of them was Daniel-François Vauchez, who was born in Fleurier in 1716. He was a judicial clerk and married with nine children. Vauchez had to leave the country in 1760 and moved to Paris, where he set himself up as a watchmaker. His wife and children remained in Fleurier for a time but joined him in Paris eventually.
Daniel-François Vauchez had a workshop in the Rue St-Pierre-aux-Boeufs in Paris from 1769 to 1790; he signed his timepieces "Vauchez à Paris" and "Vauchez en la Cité". Six of his nine children also became watchmakers. Vauchez died around 1790 in Paris and his sons continued the business as Fréres Vaucher.