English 20K gold and painted enamel watch Circa 1710

Gold open faced key winding verge watch
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A magnificent and historically significant English 18 carat gold open faced pocket watch featuring painted enamel depicting Venus and Adonis with Cupid, attributed to the Huaud brothers and made by the celebrated London maker Henry Massy, circa 1710. This watch has a mechanical key winding movement with a verge escapement, a chain fusee, a spiral balance, an advance/retard adjustment regulation disc, and ornate Egyptian style pillars between the two plates. The backplate features a beautifully chased and pierced English balance cock with a single foot, signed Henry Massy, London. The white enamel dial has black Roman numerals for the hours, outer Arabic numerals for the five minute marks from 5 to 60, a fine minute track, stylized hands, and a winding aperture near 4 o’clock.
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The timepiece is housed in an exceptionally fine, hinged, round, 18 carat solid gold case decorated with painted enamels. The bezel is adorned with a continuous painted landscape. The caseband features four distinct polychrome vignettes depicting buildings within lush landscapes, interspersed with precious stone settings and a central painted flower head. The reverse back cover shows a masterfully executed scene of the mythological encounter of Venus and Adonis,s accompanied by Cupid. When the case is opened, the interior reveals a finely detailed miniature painting of a castle overlooking a river, with a traveller in the foreground facing the exquisitely engraved movement.
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Diameter: 49 mm
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Weight: 120.2 g
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Signed: Hen. Massy London
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The exceptional miniature enamel paintings on this case are attributed to the legendary Huaud brothers (Pierre, Jean-Pierre, and Amy), an elite dynasty of Geneva enamelers active during the late 17th and early 18th centuries who revolutionized the art of peinture sur émail.
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Their signatures often brought immense prestige to luxury timepieces commissioned by premier London watchmakers like Henry Massy, a prominent Huguenot maker and member of the Clockmakers’ Company. The mythological theme of Venus and Adonis, the goddess of love trying to restrain her mortal lover before his fateful hunt, perfectly captures the era’s fascination with classical allegories of desire, beauty, and tragic fate.
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Such highly decorated, stone set masterpieces were specifically crafted for affluent European collections and the expanding high end Eastern market, seamlessly combining peak mechanical English horology with the most sophisticated artistic expressions of French and Swiss craftsmanship.