English gold watch made for the Chinese market Circa 1835

Gold duplex watch with centre seconds
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A very fine and rare English 18K gold, enamel and pearl-set open faced centre seconds pocket watch with duplex escapement made for the Chinese market, circa 1835. Accompanied by a gold-painted enamel and pearl-set key. Bouquet of Summer Flowers by Ilbery. The back is finely painted-on enamel with a bouquet of summer flowers on a translucent royal blue enamel over sunray engine-turning, half-pearl set bezels, pendant and bow, spring-loaded glazed cuvette mounted on the movement ring.
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White enamel dial, radial Roman numerals, outer minute and seconds divisions with fifteen-minute/seconds Arabic numerals, blued steel tulip skeleton hands. A gilt-brass movement, fully engraved Chinese calibre, 12 jewels, free-standing barrel, ruby duplex escapement, three-arm, uncut-bimetallic balance with flat balance spring, diamond endstone, index regulator. Movement signed.
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Diameter: 55 mm
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Signed: Ilbery London
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William Ilbery was active in London from 1780. Following James Cox in London and Jaquet Droz in Switzerland, he specialized in luxury watches made for the Chinese market. His early production was in the English style, with a full plate movement and an English-type single-wheel duplex escapement, however, for his highest-quality watches, he incorporated a spring detent escapement. The cases were in the style of those made in England at the time. Later, his watch movements were much inspired by the Lepine calibre with a freestanding barrel, as were those of Jaquet Droz’s Swiss production signed in London and that of William Anthony, who worked in London.
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He set a new standard for watches made for the Asian market. He had profusely engraved movements made in Switzerland, mainly in Fleurier, being followed in this by makers such as Bovet and Juvet. Bovet and Juvet organized the mass production of silver-cased watches and later, once their Canton branches were opened, assembled them in China. Ilbery can therefore be considered the father of Chinese watches as they are known today. Ilbery’s watch cases were decorated by Geneva’s best enamelers, such as Jean-Francois-Victor Dupont and Jean- Louis Richter. He seems to have maintained close contact with the continental trade since a watch signed ‘Ilbery Paris’ is known and Ilbery & Son are recorded in London and Fleurier, as well as in Canton.