Austrian exquisite gold enamel mandolin form watch Circa 1800

Hunting cased form watch by Leopold Nitschner
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An Austrian rare and exquisite gold/enamel form watch “Mandoline” with pearls, circa 1800.
18 carat pink gold and enameled case; front and back decorated with engine turned geometric pattern and translucent red and cobalt blue enamelling; the sides have Champlevé enamelling and half pearl ornamentation. A white sheet of music framed by green Champlevé enamel foliage is shown on the back. The front is studded with half pearls and decorated with finely scrolled leaves. The glass panelled sound hole reveals the escapement, the strings are made of gold. Signed and numbered verge movement. Beautiful Louis XV enamel dial with Roman hours, Arabic minutes and attractive steel hands. Very beautiful condition, special and high-grade edition of the famous “Enamel Mandoline”.
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Diameter: 70 mm
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Weight: 27 g
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Signed: Leopold Nitschner Wien
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Leopold Nitschner was a Viennese master, already listed since 1761, died in 1813 in Vienna. An almost identical piece was sold in Geneva auction 2011 for more than 22,000 Swiss francs . Another, absolutely identical piece was sold for € 16,000. These watches were made around 1800 in Vienna. The cases were probably made by Frères Les Raffard à Genève.