English repeater with date and Grande Sonnerie Circa 1847

Gold hunting cased repeater by French Royal Exchange
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A heavy splendour hunting cased minute repeating English pocket watch with quarter-hour self strike Grande Sonnerie, date and duplex escapement, circa 1847.
18-Carat gold case, costly engraved on all sides: the front and backside with putti, flower and fruit garlands, the interior of both lids with a fine composition of summer flowers; reeded band, gold dome, slide for the silence of the self strike at 7, slide for choosing Grande Sonnerie or Petit Sonnerie at 11, case maker’s punch mark LC (Louis Comtesse, Soho, London). Signed, silver, engine-turned dial with applied floral gold decoration, radial Roman hours, subsidiary chapter ring for the date, and blued Breguet hands. 4/5 plate movement, keywind, gilt, costly engraved with foliage and scrolls, signed, two hammers / two gongs, screwed chatons, gold screw compensation balance, and a fine florally engraved balance cock.
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Diameter: 56 mm
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Weight: 188 g
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Signed: French Royal Exchange, London
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This is one of the highest-value English pocket watches which is ever been auctioned. Not only is the gold content of the case extremely high, but it is also decorated all over with the most elaborate hand engraving. The movement too is extensively hand-engraved and special care was taken to make sure that the engraving went around the chatons. This is truly a fine example of British watchmaking! The maker of the gold case was Louis Comtesse at 10 East Street, Red Lion Square. Comtesse had first registered a mark (incuse) as a gold worker on November 8, 1804; at the time he was working at 13 Batemans Buildings in Soho, where he remained until 1827. The cameo mark on this case was registered on March 5, 1840, and was Comtesse’s last mark.