English 18 Carat gold quarter repeating cylinder watch Circa 1775

Gold and enamel quarter repeating ruby cylinder watch with enamel scene
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An English fine gold and enamel open faced quarter repeating ruby cylinder pocket watch, circa 1775. Signed gilded full plate movement, ruby cylinder escapement with brass wheel, decoratively pierced balance cock engraved with foliage, a mask at the neck, diamond end stone, fusee and chain, cylindrical pillars, two polished steel hammers repeating on blocks to the inside case back, signed gilt metal dust cap.
White enamel dial with Roman numerals, outer Arabic minute track, gold beetle & poker hands and a winding aperture below twelve o’clock. The case back centered with a painted en grisaille enamel scene depicting a woman making an offering at an altar, signed AT for Augustin Toussaint, framed by blue basse taille and white enamel, surrounded by gold foliate scrolls on a green basse taille ground, shells and ovals at the quarters, both bezels decorated with blue and white enamel, a diamond set push piece, case maker’s mark PM champlevé incuse for Peter Mounier.
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Diameter: 46 mm
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Signed: Wm. Allam London
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Augustin Toussaint was apprenticed to George Michael Moser. Moser was paid an astonishing £ 210 in 1768 for the apprenticeship, this compares to what appears to have been a standard apprenticeship fee for chasers during the period of between £ 5 and £ 10. The enormous fee not only demonstrates Moser’s exceptional reputation but also the wealth of Toussaint’s father, a jeweller. By the period of Toussaint’s apprenticeship, enamelling work appeared to have the most lucrative future and it is perhaps for that reason that Toussaint’s career concentrated on enamel work rather than chasing.   

The same scene as that on the present watch can be found on the chatelaine hook of a watch by Josiah Emery, No. 660, the case of which is hallmarked London 1774, and which also has an en grisaille scene of a neo classical figure, both this and the scene to the hook are signed ‘AT’ for Augustin Toussaint. Emery No. 660 may be found in the Patek Philippe Museum, Geneva and the watch and chatelaine are illustrated in Peter Friess, Patek Philippe Museum, The Emergence of the Portable Watch.
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William Allam was based in Bond Street, London and was a freeman of the Clockmakers’ Company between 1743 and 1785.
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A grisaille (en grisaille), or grey painting, is a painting in which one does not apply natural colours but restricts oneself to depicting things in all possible shades of the same colour, usually grey or brown.
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Basse taille is an enamelling technique in which the artist creates a low relief pattern in metal, usually silver or gold, by engraving or chasing. The entire pattern is created in such a way that its highest point is lower than the surrounding metal. A translucent enamel is then applied to the metal, allowing light to reflect from the relief and creating an artistic effect. It was used in the late Middle Ages, and then again in the 17th century.