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| Index No. N5748 | Gold French Revolution Quarter Repeater |
| A very rare late 18th Century verge quarter repeater showing both Revolutionary time and traditional time in a gold consular case. Full plate gilt fusee movement. Finely pierced and engraved bridge cock with steel coqueret, plain three arm gilt balance with blue steel spiral hairspring. Silver regulator dial with blue steel indicator. Round pillars. Push pendant traditional time dumb quarter repeating on blocks in the case. Unusual early use of a ratchet and lever regulator to slow the repeating train, the eccentric weight visible above the top plate under a separate bridge. Signature engraved on the gilt edge to the dial plate in addition to the top plate. Rare white enamel dial showing 24 hour traditional time at the edge of the dial with Roman and Arabic numerals by means of the gold hands. A third blue steel hand indicated the time in revolutionary minutes, the hour being read by the circular aperture in the gold hand. Engine turned 18 carat consular, decorative engraving to the bezels, touch piece in the band to quiet the repeat. | ||
| Signed | De Bon - Hger De Mr. Le Duc Dorleans - a Paris | |
| Condition | Circa | 1795 |
| Case | Excellent. | ||
| Dial | Excellent. | Diameter | 44 mm |
| Movement | Excellent. |
| A fine and rare watch. The revolutionary system for time and calendar were adopted by the Convention in 1793. This sought to rationalize all measurement into units of ten. This was never widely accepted for clocks and calendars and was abandoned by Napoleon in 1810. Few examples of watches using the Revolutionary system were made and most of these have been destroyed or converted. Of those known indicating dual times most use two separate chapters or dials. This example may be unique in using three concentrically mounted hands to show both. It is very fortunate and surprising this watch has survived without damage or alteration to the dial. The use of traditional time to indicate the quarters and the prominent place given to the markings shows that the traditional method of counting the hours was more significant. Baillie lists - Jaques De Bon Paris Clockmaker to the duc d'Orleans - 1776 died 1789. - This watch is unlikely to date from before 1790 and so it is probable an error occurred in the listing (1789 for 1799) or that this watch was produced by his son. |
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