Swiss gold shield-shaped watch with visible balance Circa 1800

Gold, enamel and pearl set pendant watch by Moilliet & Cie
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A very fine and very rare Swiss 18 carat gold, enamel, and pearl set shield-shaped pendant watch with visible rose cut diamond set balance, circa 1800. Shield-shaped movement, matte gilt, full plate, fixed spring barrel with separate foliate engraved bridge, cylinder escapement, index regulator on the backplate. Small white enamel dial with Arabic numerals and outer dot minute divisions, set in the lower half of a shield-shaped mask decorated with engraved gold birds and foliage, light blue enamel ground, royal blue champlevé enamel border decorated with a gold repeat pattern, above the dial an aperture for the visible balance set with rose cut diamonds, mirror polished backplate and original blued steel spade hands. Shield-shaped case, hinged bezel set with seed pearls, the back decorated with an engraved gold, white and blue enamel scene of a bird at a fountain with leaves and swags and the word Amitié, green enamel ground, blue enamel and seed pearl set border, gold suspension loop. Movement signed.
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Dimensions: 42 x 34 mm
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Signed: Moilliet & Cie Genève
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Antoine Moilliet & Cie are recorded as working in Geneva between 1790 and 1810, making form watches and ‘montres de fantaisie’.