French gold, electrotype silver and niëllo cylinder watch Circa 1850

Kenmerk: BA2233
Diameter: 47 mm

Estimate: € 5.500 - 10.000
Price sold: € 8.750

Gold cylinder with fob chain and South African Pond by Froment-Meurice
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A very fine and extremely rare French yellow gold, electrotype silver and niëllo open faced keyless cylinder pocket watch with the original yellow gold and silver fob chain and gold South African Pond of 1894 made by the great French goldsmith François- Désiré Froment-Meurice, circa 1850. Swiss matte gilt movement, 8 jewels, wolf’s tooth winding, cylinder escapement, matte gilt three-arm balance, flat blued steel balance spring, index regulator. Yellow gold hinged cuvette. Niëlloed silver dial with a bird and foliate scroll design, inlaid yellow gold chapter ring with Roman numerals and dot half-hour divisions, rose-cut diamond-set fleur-de-lys hands. Case with electrotype silver decoration, the bezel with overlapping continuous pattern, the band with Vitruvian scroll pattern, hinged back with a central panel depicting la chasse in high relief, foliate border with four yellow gold trophies, outermost border with continuous overlapping pattern and four yellow gold flowerheads. Cuvette signed Froment-Meurice.
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Diameter: 47 mm
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Signed: François- Désiré Froment-Meurice
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François-Désiré Froment-Meurice (1802-1855) was amongst the most renowned silversmiths of mid-nineteenth-century Paris. He was a historicist whose work encompassed the Renaissance, medieval and Islamic styles, typically with a profusion of ornament and combining traditional and new techniques of chasing, engraving and electrotype and electro-plating. The present watch demonstrates this combination of techniques and has the very rare feature of a niëlloed dial.

Signed: François- Désiré Froment-Meurice