English 18K gold quarter repeater for the Ottoman market Circa 1800

Multicoloured gold open faced key winding verge watch
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A fine, large English multicoloured gold open faced pocket watch with quarter repeating chimes, made for the Ottoman market by George Prior, London, early 19th century. It has a mechanical key winding fire gilded brass movement with a verge escapement, a fusee and chain, a flat spiral balance spring, an advance/delay adjusting disc, a ruby counter pivot, and repeating hammers striking an internal bell at the bottom of the case, operated by pressing the pendant stem. The movement plate is deeply engraved with large scrolling foliage and features an intricately chased and pierced English made balance cock with a single foot, signed George Prior London 1010 on the protective inner gold dust cap.
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The white enamel dial has an outer minute track, bold black Turkish numerals for the hours and minutes, distinctive half hour markings, and sleek blued steel Breguet style hands, signed George Prior, London. The timepiece is housed in a magnificent, round, hinged multicoloured gold case. The reverse back cover is decorated with a detailed four colour gold floral vignette in high relief depicting Le Vase de Fleurs (The Vase of Flowers). The caseband and surrounding borders are richly engine turned and deeply chased with continuous floral motifs. It features precision sound emission piercings along the case middle, a counterpart mechanism for triggering the chime, a plain fluted pendant stem, and a sturdy round suspension bow.
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Diameter: 60 mm
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Weight: 162.50 g
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Signed: George Prior London
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George Prior’s inclusion of Le Vase de Fleurs (The Vase of Flowers) on timepieces crafted for the Ottoman market carries a profound meaning beyond ornamentation. In Ottoman traditions and Islamic art, highly stylized floral motifs—specifically tulips, roses, and carnations—were revered as supreme representations of divine creation, purity, and spiritual perfection. By depicting a vase overflowing with blooming flora, Prior integrated a powerful visual metaphor for abundance, fertility, and prosperity that served as a good luck charm for its wealthy owner.
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Furthermore, the choice of a floral vignette on an instrument designed to measure time resonates with deep philosophical undertones. In Near Eastern poetry and philosophy, the blossoming and fading of flowers underscored the ephemeral nature of earthly beauty and the transitory essence of human life. Through this fusion of high relief, four colour gold artistry and European mechanical ingenuity, George Prior did not simply manufacture a precision quarter repeating watch. He created a localized cultural bridge. Each piece stood as a prestigious status symbol that harmonized Western horological complexity with the spiritual, aesthetic, and visual codes of the Ottoman elite.