Very fine 18K gold and diamond set Boule de Genève Circa 1860

Gold ball form watch probably by Patek Philippe
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A very fine Swiss 18 carat gold, granulated and diamond-set Boule de Genève watch, circa 1860. Ultra-fine miniature lever movement with moustache lever, similarly constructed as the well-known signed Patek Philippe ball watch movements. Typical white enamel dial with black Arabic hours and red 12, the tip of the later hour hand is missing. The case is decorated in a special granulation technique, the middle part set with rose cut diamonds, a patent case with a winding mechanism and time setting by turning the case halves.
Case and movement numbered.
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Diameter: 18 mm
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Weight: 15.5 g
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Signed: No name
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This watch is a rarity and possibly an unsigned early Patek Philippe.
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A Boule de Genève (Geneva ball) is a type of pendant watch in the shape of a small ball or sphere originating from Geneva, Switzerland. The dial is usually at the bottom of the sphere facing the floor, at the opposite side of the jump ring on the upper part of the sphere. Although there are examples with a front view face. Usually, they were Arabic numeral dials, sometimes Roman, and from the 1950s different types of hour markers were also used. This objet de vertu frequently came with a matching brooch, chain or chatelaine. The term Boule de Genève is generic, it doesn’t mean that a given watch was necessarily made in the city or Canton of Geneva. Geneva balls were crafted in different sizes, styles, materials and decorative techniques, such as gold, silver, other metals, guilloché enamel, enamel, cloisonné, adorned with diamonds, pearls etc. They were intended as an accessory mainly for women.
The first Boules de Genève date from the 1860s, marketed by firms such as Patek Philippe from 1866. They featured the winding mechanism invented by Marius Lecoultre (1847-1915) of Geneva and patented in Switzerland in 1889 (the Swiss patent office was not created until 1888). Winding by rotating the hemisphere containing the dial and time-setting by pressing the protruding, cylindrical shaped button at one side of the orb while turning the said hemisphere clockwise or counterclockwise. These watches have no key or crown. Lecoultre’s winding system was also used in some ring watches and wristwatches of the time.
In the 1878 Pairs Exposition Universelle, Patek Philippe devoted a showcase to these ball form timepieces. And years later sold pieces to royalty such as Sultan Hussein Kamel of Egypt in 1887 and Empress Teresa of Brazil in 1888.