French gold and diamond set repoussé repeater Circa 1730

Open faced repoussé à toc et à tac repeating watch by François Antoine Jolly
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A French 20 carat gold and diamond set open faced repoussé à toc et à tac repeater, circa 1730. Repetition of hours and quarter hours with two hammers on bottom bell, two legged and engraved spindle bridge with blue sapphire stone, cylindrical pillars, silver regulator dial, blued screws and polished steel parts. Signed, white enamel dial and diamond studded hands. Floral engraved case, pierced with 6 attached flowers, each set with diamond roses, 5 part side hinge, ‘Francois Jolly’ and ‘sou de timbre’ engraved to the back. This watch is most likely the earliest watch of the famous French watchmaker Francois Jolly from around 1730-1740.
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Diameter: 50 mm
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Weight: 130 g
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Signed: François Jolly Paris
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François Antoine Jolly was born in 1708, Paris. Since the Jolly family had been working as respected watchmakers for generations, François was apprenticed at the age of 10, probably with his father, Claude Hector. François was 1737 ‘ouvrier libre’, he worked at the Place Dauphine for Lazare Duvaux and from 1747 as master of the jewelers J.D. Lempereur and S.L. Leblanc. He processed housing by B. Lieutaud and F. Goyer. He sold a diamond studded watch to the Prince de Condé for a fabulous 9000 livres. François-Antoine Jolly married Marie Anne Gribelin, daughter of a prestigious dynasty of watchmakers who originally came from Blois. François Antoine died in 1772.