English complicated coach clock with enamel painting Circa 1790

Gilt metal and enamel pair cased pocket watch by William Carpenter
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A rare and extremely early English highly complicated astronomical coach clock with enamel painting and visible paste-set balance made for the Chinese market, circa 1790. Two fire gilt cases: the outer case with a painted enamel panel decorated with a scene of three female figures at the altar of love, the border decorated to match the bezel and a plain inner case with case maker’s punch FM and a crown. White enamel dial, central view to the balance which is set with coloured stones, the upper part with
hour indication, to the right the minutes and below the seconds, at 6 o’clock the flashing 1/4th second diablotine, to the left the regulation through the dial, above it the display of the Chinese lunar calendar with moon phase and gilt hands. Gilt-brass full plate movement, finely engraved with stylized foliage, tapered cylindrical pillars, fusee and chain, verge escapement, five-arm gilt balance set with alternating red and white pastes, and blued steel bridge. Movement signed and numbered.
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Diameter: 75 mm
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Weight: 250 g
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Signed: William Carpenter London
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The watch is a real rarity among enamel watches for the Chinese market. It is the matching sister watch of the 4633, auctioned in Geneva for 31,250 Swiss Francs in 2013. Because the watches match, it can be assumed that it was a pair that was sold to China. Apart from that, it is also one of the most complicated enamel watches from the 18th century.
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William Carpenter, 1770-1805, made fine watches and automata for the Chinese market. He is particularly known for his extraordinary musical automata. Some of his automata are in the ownership of the Palace Museum of Beijing in China.
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The feature known as a diablotine is a small subsidiary dial on a chronograph or independent centre seconds pocket watch, the hand of which moves in a jumping manner at intervals of 1/4 or 1/5th of a second. The term literally means ‘little devil’. The diablotine is halted when the chronograph or centre seconds is stopped and the fractions of a second can be read.