French gold repeating verge for the Islamic market Circa 1760

Gold, enamel and pearl set quarter repeater by Julien Le Roy
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A fine and large French gold, enamel and pearl set open faced quarter repeating verge pocket watch made for the Islamic market, circa 1760. Matte gilt full plate movement, cylindrical pillars, fusee and chain, verge escapement, three armed brass balance, pierced and engraved continental balance cock with steel endplate, silver regulation dial. White enamel dial with Islamic numerals, outer dot minute divisions and Islamic five-minute numerals, original seed pearl set gold hands. The case back is decorated with a scene of ships moored in a harbour in a pearl set vase shaped cartouche with royal blue, red and green translucent enamel border with gold paillons, outer engraved border decorated to match the bezel, pearl set bezel engraved with repeat leaf pattern, shuttered winding hole, gilt dust cover. Dial, dust cover and movement signed, repeating on a bell (missing) in the back of the case activated by depressing the pendant.
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Diameter: 58 mm
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Signed: Jln Le Roy à Paris
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Julien Le Roy is one of the clockmakers who contributed most to the progress and the reputation of French watch- and clockmaking. Born in Tours on August 6, 1686, and died in 1759 in Paris. He came to Paris in 1699. In 1713 he achieved his master’s degree and in the following years, he became a jury member of the Paris Guild of Watchmakers. Later, Le Roy became director of the Société des Arts de Genève and, in 1739, Court Watchmaker (French Horloger Ordinaire du Roi) under Louis XV, he had his private quarters in the Louvre. He improved almost all branches of clockmaking and many important inventions in the realm of time measurement are owed to him. In 1717, Julien Le Roy presented an equation clock to the Royal Academy of Sciences which showed the true time, the place of the sun and its decline. His most important discoveries concerned watch mechanisms. The adjustable ‘potence’ for the verge escape wheel considerably improved the escapement’s functioning and the steel end-piece (coqueret) which allowed oil to be retained in the balance pivots in order to diminish frictional force, was quickly adopted by other watchmakers. He was the inventor of dumb repeating watches too, in 1740, he created a new arrangement that allowed the area allotted to the repeating work to be enlarged. This invention, called ‘à bâte levée’, was also adopted by his fellow clockmakers. In 1755 he invented a small anchor escapement used as a regulator for the repeating train. He contributed to the Encyclopédie by writing several articles on clockmaking together with his son Jean-Baptiste, the Academician. Le Roy ran his workshop in the Rue de Harlay in Paris until his death. Examples of his timepieces can be found in various important museums around the world, such as the Louvre and the Victoria and Albert Museum.