French repeating watch with special escapement Circa 1830

Gold quarter repeating lever watch by Père Bouhelier
–
A fine and rare French 18-carat gold open-faced quarter repeating pocket watch with special escapement, circa 1830. Frosted gilt movement, 6 jewels, standing barrel, special polished steel lateral lever escapement with an elongated lever arm, the fork engaging a locking pin on the balance pivot, plain three armed balance, blued steel flat balance spring, index regulator, repeating with two massive polished steel hammers on two gongs activated by a pull and twist button in the pendant, polished steel repeating work under the dial. Hinged gilt metal cuvette. White enamel dial with Arabic numerals, outer minute divisions, and original blued steel Breguet hands. Engine-turned and polished case, engine-turned band. Cuvette signed.
–
Diameter: 53 mm
–
Signed: Père Bouhelier
–
Père Bouhelier. A native of Saint Julien, a small village near Charquemont, in Franche Comte, where his surname was very common. Although mostly farmers, the population made cylinder escapements in winter-time, for both the French and the Swiss makers. It is interesting to note that the few watches known from this maker are all constructed with this very unusual calibre and all set with the same type of straight-line lever escapement. Very few watches made by Père Bouhelier are known to exist. It is difficult to decide whether he was ahead of his time, technologically speaking, or behind. As Père Bouhelier was a priest who emigrated to England during the French Revolution, it is most likely that he learned how to make the lever escapements during his enforced exile based on his own trial and error.