Unusual Swiss 18K gold lever musical automaton Circa 1884-1885

Gold center seconds full hunter automaton by Charles Reuge
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A fine, unusual and very rare Swiss 18 carat gold hunting cased two train musical center seconds keyless lever pocket watch with an automaton violinist playing two tunes on a pinned cylinder at will made for the Indian Market, Hallmarked London 1884-1885. The Violinist. Frosted gilt double train movement with differential winding, counterpoised lateral lever escapement, cut bimetallic compensation balance, blued steel Breguet balance spring, index regulator, a musical train with pinned cylinder and 35 steel toothed comb playing two tunes at will: The Lagoon’s Waltz and The Daughter of the Regiment. The hinged gold cuvette with illegible engraved dedication. White enamel two-piece dial with Roman numerals, an outer minute track and outermost fifths of a second divisions, Arabic five second numerals, the center painted with a seated violinist in an interior, one arm automated holding the violin bow and activated when the music plays, original blued steel spade hands. A large polished case, master mark JM. Movement engraved with the Reuge trademark of a lion rampant.
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Diameter: 58 mm
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Signed: Charles Reuge à Sainte-Croix
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Charles Reuge registered his name and the lion trademark in 1883 for the making of musical and watch movements. Only 50 of these watches were made, based on a patent registered on April 25, 1883. They were intended mostly for the Chinese and Indian markets.

Reuge revived the idea of musical watches from the early 19th century, but instead of using the sur plateau type mechanism favoured by Piguet & Meylan, he used a pinned cylinder. The cylinder type is more robust and gives a more resonant sound, but requires a thicker case to house it. It also allows for more than one tune to be played from the same cylinder.

The Lagoon Waltz is a beautiful song from the operetta Eine Nacht in Venedig, composed by Johann Strauss II and first performed in 1883. It was therefore a new tune at the time this watch was made. The Daughter of the Regiment or ‘La fille du régiment’ is an opera comique in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Written while the composer was living in Paris, the French libretto is by Georges Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jean-Francois Bayard.