English gold repeating pair cased pocket watch Circa 1740

Gold repeating verge pocket watch by Christian Heinrich Hähnel
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An English gold pair cased pocket with enamel or varnish Martin painted portraits, circa 1740.
The movement of this timepiece is exquisite, with a full gilt plate, chain/fusee, two hammers, square baluster pillars, a three-arm steel balance, and a beautifully florally engraved and pierced balance cock, all powered by a verge escapement. The enamel dial is secured with screws and features Roman radial hours, an outer minutes track with Arabic numerals for every five minutes, and Louis XV-style hands. The watch is housed in two gold cases – the outer case is adorned with polychrome enamel or varnish Martin painted portraits of a husband and wife and portraits of the daughters on the inside, while the second case is engraved and pierced. Signed on movement: C.H. Hähnel, London
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Diameter: 51 mm
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Signed: C.H. Hähnel, London
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Christian Heinrich Hähnel was born on March 18, 1695, in Zwickau, the son of the watchmaker Christian Hähnel. He attended school and Latin school there. He learned the clockmaker’s trade from his father and then went on a journey: Prague, Leipzig, Dresden, Gdansk, Hamburg, Halle, Berlin, Stettin and Nuremberg were the stops before he came to Fürth near Nuremberg, which was well-known at the time as a clockmaker’s city. On August 8, 1719, he married a woman from Zwickau in Fürth, and a year later, a woman from Nuremberg gave him 13 children. One of his daughters from this marriage was with the watchmaker Nikolaus Daniel Stolzemarried. Hähnel himself also worked for the family of the Counts of Pückler-Limpurg in the nearby castle of Burgfarrnbach. Christian Heinrich Hähnel died in June 1754 .