Austrian pink gold and enamel pendant form watch Circa 1790

Pocket- pendant watch with a verge escapement.
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A gold and enamel verge watch “Souvenir”, made by Ignatz Willenbacher in Josephstadt Wien, Austria, circa 1790. The form watch has an extremely unusual pink gold case. The lower part of the case has blue guilloché enamel on the front with a very fine magnifying glass painting depicting a shepherdess with her flock which is surrounded by white enamel beads in a gold setting in the middle and the back of the case is plain. The white enamel dial has Arabic hour numerals and Breguet hands. The extremely rare movement has a cylinder escapement and uses a sophisticated technical solution to drive the separate movement in the upper part of the case.
Case and dust cover are signed.
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Dimensions: 72 x 42 mm
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Weight: 59 g
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Signed: Ignatz Willenbacher, à Joseph Stadt (dust cover)
H. Fider (case)
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Only a few of these clocks are known.
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The Bohemian clockmaker Ignatz Willenbacher was already listed in Josephstadt before 1800. In 1813, Willenbacher and Rzebilschek entered into a partnership in Josefstadt, which was moved to Prague in 1828. Among other things, a valuable portal clock was made there in 1834 as a wedding present for Emperor Franz. Ignatz Willenbacher died in the same year. Ignatz Willenbacher had a patent for this type of watch and called it “Souvenir”. Less than five of these watches are known to date, most of them signed by Willenbacher. One copy was in the collection of the Time Museum New York and another one in the collection of the Historisches Museum Basel.