English 18 carat gold pair cased verge watch with jewels Circa 1790

Gold, enamel and garnet stone set watch
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An extremely rare pair cased verge pocket watch made for the Indian market by Fontac in London, England, circa 1790. The open faced case of this watch was crafted from 18 carat gold, both bezels are set with oval garnet stones and on the back there’s a fine polychrome enamel portrait of a lady with tiara, it further has two integrated opening buttons, enabling the case to be opened on both sides. The original white enamel dial has Roman hour numerals, an outer minute track and gold spade hands. The numbered movement has a verge escapement of excellent quality. The movement is signed.
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Diameter: 56 mm
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Weight: 140 g
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Signed: Fontac London
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This piece comes from one of the most important German pocket watch collections.
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The English watchmaker Fontac made pocket watches with very fine enamelling for the Chinese and Indian markets. Very few of these watches are known today. So far, Fontac watches sold at auction are No. 265, sold for approximately US $ 11.000 and No. 404, sold for CHF 31.000.