Swiss centre seconds duplex for the Chinese market Circa 1860

Gilt, enamel and split pearl-set duplex watch
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A fine and very unusual Swiss gilded silver, enamel and split pearl-set open faced centre seconds duplex pocket watch made for the Chinese market, circa 1860. Birds of Paradise by Bovet. Three-body case, reeded band, split-pearl set bezels, pendant and bow, the back cover decorated with a very fine painted enamel scene depicting two birds of paradise on a flowering tree branch on a opalescent guilloché ground. Hinged and sprung glazed cuvette for viewing the movement. White enamel dial with radial Roman numerals, outer minute divisions and Arabic quarter-hour numerals, blued steel flower hands. Polished steel movement, Chinese calibre, eight jewels, standing barrel, Jacot duplex escapement, bimetallic compensation balance with blued steel winged weights, flat balance spring, index regulator. Movement signed.
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Diameter: 57 mm
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Signed: Bovet Fleurier
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The present watch is decorated with polychrome enamel ‘birds of paradise’, a particularly unusual scene for the Chinese market, the opalescent enamel background is also unusual on such a watch. The composition is particularly elegant and beautiful, providing visual harmony. Birds of Paradise denotes extravagant and elaborate thoughts. On the positive side, it can symbolize lightness, closeness to God and removal from worldly concerns. Other attributes symbolized by birds denote personality characteristics, such as appreciation of beauty, joy and love, the transcendent qualities that elevate man, linking the material world to the spiritual world.
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Bovet. A watchmaking dynasty founded by Edouard, Frédéric, Alphonse, Gustave, Charles-Henri and Caroline Bovet of Fleurier. In 1822, a Bovet partnership was founded for the Chinese watch trade in Canton. In 1840 Bovet Frères et Cie was established in Fleurier and in 1864 the Bovet watch production was sold to Bovet’s manufacturing inspectors in Fleurier, Jules Jéquier and Ernest Bobillier, soon joined by Ami Leuba. In 1888, Bovet Frères was founded under the direction of Alexis Landry, who served his apprenticeship in Fritz Bovet’s workshop in Fleurier, producing ebauches for Chinese watches and silver cases.