Lot 313

Anonymous

The Letter

An exceptional, beautiful gold enamel Geneva pocket watch, studded with half-pearls, with regulator dial, centre seconds, lunar calendar, spherical day and night indicator and visible balance

The white enamel dial with central seconds is studded with a bezel of half pearls and very finely painted with a polychrome scene in the top half; the scene shows two anglers at a mountain lake with trees and a period-style building. Above the scene, a globe for day and night indication revolves slightly off-centre. At 3 o’clock a circular opening shows the balance with paste-set arms. The hour dial with Roman numerals is positioned at 6 o’clock and the subdial displaying the moon age sits just above 9 o’clock.
The crystal case back is a perfect protection for the 200 year old oval enamel medallion with an exquisite polychrome miniature painting on translucent cobalt blue enamel over a guilloche pattern. It shows a lady wearing a veil sitting at a writing desk. The lady wears gloves and holds a letter while looking in the direction of the viewer. The scene is framed by an oval corona of half pearls and gold filigree work. The band is ornamented with colourful Champlevé petals and pairs of half pearls on translucent blue enamel.
According to the current owner, this pocket watch was originally part of a pair of matching mirror-image enamel pocket watches produced for the Chinese market. The whereabouts of the second watch are not known.
Provenance:
Sotheby's Geneva, May 10, 2009, lot 120

These works of art show the ingenuity and resourcefulness of the makers, combining the masterly crafts of the watchmaker, the goldsmith and the enameller to a magnificent piece of art. These objects were created in an epoch when Switzerland held a prominent position in the arts and crafts world. The growing trade relations to the Chinese, Ottoman and Russian markets created the foundation for the making of magnificent pocket watches and automatons in Geneva in the late 18th century. These marvels of engineering and craftsmanship were produced from 1780 to 1850 by the most renowned watchmakers of the time, in manifold variations. Creating objects of this quality and refinement is impossible today.