Very fine French silver verge with an enamel portrait Circa 1690

Silver and enamel open faced verge watch
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A  French silver and enamel pair-cased verge pocket watch, circa 1690. in the centre, black ground, circa 1690. Verge movement, a cage with a straight base, steep fusee, decorative pillars. White enamel dial with blue Roman hours, inner minute track, the centre with a polychrome enamel ring of flowers and an iron hand. Repoussé outer case, on the back an enamel portrait of a lady on a black ground in the manner of Huaud, plain inner case. Movement signed.
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Diameter: 56 mm
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Weight: 126 g
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Signed: No name
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Les Frères Huaut (or Huaud). The cases painted on enamel by ‘Les deux Frères Huaut’ were among the finest examples of their kind from the Geneva School and were not only highly valued when originally made, but remained as art treasures in the centuries that followed. Pierre I was the founder of the Huaud dynasty. He was born in 1612 in Geneva as the son of a French goldsmith Jean Huaud. He settled in Geneva in 1630 and three of his 11 children became famous enamellists like their father: Pierre II (1647-1698), Jean-Pierre (1655-1723) and Ami (1657-1724). The brothers were most likely trained by their father and worked with him. Pierre II started his own business around 1680. Jean-Pierre and Ami became partners in 1682 and were appointed painters to the Prussian court in 1686 when they moved to Berlin and started working for Elector Frederick William of Brandenburg (1620-1688). Among their most well-known works are Diana and Actaeon, The Judgement of Paris, The Holy Family, St. John the Baptist, The Nativity and The Adoration of the Shepherds.