Important French rose gold quarter repeating watch Circa 1807

Rose gold repeating cylinder watch by Breguet et Fils
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An important, heavy French 20 carat rose gold open faced quarter repeating cylinder pocket watch, circa 1807. Sent to Lord Lauderdale by Dubois Fils on February 24, 1807, for 2,200 francs. Bridge movement, key wind, one hammer, a ruby ​​cylinder escapement, three arm brass balance, temperature compensated balance spring and parachute shock protection. Gold, engine turned dial with Roman hours and outer minute dots on a matt chapter ring, subsidiary seconds at 4 o’clock and moon hands. An engine turned case back, plain bezels, a reeded band and maker’s mark JLJ for Joly. Comes with a gold watch chain, ratchet wrench and the original presentation box. Dial signed, case numbered twice, once by the watchmaker and once by the case maker, cuvette signed and numbered.
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Diameter: 55 mm
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Weight: 127 g
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Signed: Breguet & Fils
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James Maitland, 8th Earl of Lauderdale KT PC, born on 26 January 1759 at Hatton House, Ratho, Midlothian, was a British peer, politician and economist. He was the eldest son of James Maitland, 7th Earl of Lauderdale. James studied law at the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow. In 1780, he was first elected to the British House of Commons. He was MP for the Rotten borough of Newport in Cornwall from 1780 to 1784 and for the borough of Malmesbury in Wiltshire from 1784 to 1789. After inheriting his father’s peerages in 1789, his Scottish peers elected him as a representative peer to the British House of Lords, which eliminated him from the House of Commons. Maitland initially supported the ideas of the French Revolution and stayed longer in Paris during this period. At times he was even a personal friend of Jean Paul Marat. When the Whigs came to power under Grenville in 1806, Maitland was bestowed the title of Baron Lauderdale, of Thirlestane in the County of Berwick, with which came a permanent seat in the House of Lords, as he belonged to the Peerage of the United Kingdom. He was also admitted to the Privy Council in 1806 and briefly served as Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland in July 1806. Between August and October 1806 he took part as a diplomat in Paris in the vain peace negotiations with Napoleon I, which Charles James Fox had started. He later became a Tory voted against the Electoral Reform of 1832 and was head of the Scottish High Tories. In 1821, he was inducted into the Order of the Thistle as a Knight Companion. He died on September 10, 1839 at his family home, Thirlestane Castle in Berwickshire.