English half pearl set silver-gilt pocket watch Circa 1840

A silver enamel pocket watch with a portrait of a young lady
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A rare half pearl set silver-gilt and enamel gentleman’s pocket watch with a portrait of a young lady, circa 1860. Made for the Chinese market.
The exquisitely painted enamel medallion on the back of the silver case is outstanding. It shows the profile portrait of a young woman against an opaque cobalt blue background. Her hair is pinned up with flowers, and she wears a red silk dress with a fur collar, large gold earrings and a matching gold necklace. The bezel, pendant and bow on the front are decorated with half pearls. The enamel dial has Roman radial hours, outer minutes/seconds track with Arabic fifteen minutes/seconds numeral, centre seconds, and gold spade hands. And the gilded brass bridge movement is lavishly florally engraved in Chinese-style and has a duplex escapement, a going barrel and a five-arm steel balance. Movement signed.
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Diameter: 55 mm
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Weight: 125 g
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Signed: Richardson London
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Many European makers of pocket watches, who produced watches for the Chinese market, were the most renowned companies. They had branches in China and exported the movements and the wonderful enamelwork for the timepieces from England or Switzerland to China. The lavishly ornamented cases always had very distinctive decorations; the motifs have lost nothing of their appeal 200 years later, they are still highly sought after collector’s pieces. Only very few of these enamel ornaments have survived the years undamaged. This makes a watch in its original condition even more precious.