French gold, enamel, diamond set repeating verge Circa 1750

Gold open faced dumb quarter repeater by Etienne Lenoir 
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A fine French 20 carat gold, enamel and diamond set open faced dumb quarter repeating verge pocket watch, circa 1750. Gilt brass full plate movement with tapered turned pillars, fusee with chain, verge escapement with micrometric potence adjustment, plain three armed steel balance, flat balance spring, silver regulator scale, pierced gilt brass continental cock with polished steel end piece, dumb quarter repeating with two hammers on blocks activated by depressing the pendant, silence piece in the edge of the engraved dial plate. White enamel dial with Roman numerals, outer minute track and outermost large Arabic five minute numerals, winding aperture at two o’ clock and original rose cut diamond set hands. Louis XV case, decorated on the bezel and back with raised blue cornflowers and green foliage over an engraved ground, large rose diamond set thumb pieces. Dial and movement signed.
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Diameter: 47 mm
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Signed: Etienne Lenoir à Paris
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Étienne LeNoir also known as Lenoir and Le Noir (1699-1778), was a French maker and descendant of a watchmaking family based in Paris since the 16th century. Lenoir became a master in 1717 and was one of the most important makers of his time, he gained his reputation, not from his own inventions but from his ability to run a well-organized business that produced large numbers of timepieces of consistent high quality. His son Pierre Étienne LeNoir also signed his work with the high profile signature of his father. The workshop existed until the 1820s. Many of Lenoir’s timepieces are today owned by important museums such as the Münchner Residenz, Schloss Wilhelmsthal in Calden, the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg and the J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu.