Swiss gold open faced lever with en grisaille dial Circa 1890

Gold lever pocket watch
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A Swiss 18 carat gold open faced lever pocket watch, circa 1890. Glazed bridge movement, a crown winding system invented by Olivier Courvoisier of Neuchâtel according to the English patent No. 1114 from 1873, gold screw compensation balance. The front en grisaille, a small light grey central dial for the time indication with white Roman hours, outer minute divisions and eccentric subsidiary seconds at 6 o’clock surrounded by three hovering cherubs symbolizing winter, spring and autumn, some of them, as well as the stars in the background, emphasized in gold on a dark grey ground.
The engine turned case back is monogrammed. Case numbered.
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Diameter: 51 mm
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Weight: 89 g
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Signed: No name
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The Museé d’Horlogerie in Geneva exhibits an ebauche with anchor escapement and the same type of winding system. It was developed by Oliver Courvoisier, who received the English patent no. 1114 in 1873 for it.
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A grisaille (en grisaille), or grey painting, is a painting in which one does not apply natural colours but restricts oneself to depicting things in all possible shades of the same colour, usually grey or brown. 
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A cherub is a kind of angel, one of the second rank. Cherubs or cherubim, as the Hebrew plural is, were the ancient Israelites’ representations of symbolic, otherworldly beings. According to the Bible, a cherub looks different from other angels. Angels are often described as beings without wings, only in Revelation 14:6 angels are described as having wings, and they look like human beings. Cherubs always have wings and often look like animals.