English watch with centre seconds for the Chinese market Circa 1845

Enamel and pearl set watch with centre seconds by Just & Son
–
A fine and rare, gilded metal, enamel and pearl-set, key-winding, open faced English pocket watch with centre seconds, circa 1845. Made probably in Fleurier (Val-de-Travers) and Geneva for the Chinese market.
Gilded brass movement, engraved Chinese-style with scrolled foliage, free-standing going barrel, jewelled train of wheels, English lateral special lever escapement, monometallic balance (polished steel) with three arms and blued steel flat hairspring, ruby end-stone. White enamel dial with radial Roman numerals, outer minutes/seconds track with Arabic five minutes/seconds numerals, blued steel skeleton hands and equilibrated second-hand. Gilded metal polished case, case back with polychrome painting on enamel, by an unidentified workshop, probably Geneva, showing a bunch of multicoloured summer flowers on a royal blue flinqué enamel (translucent enamel over guilloché engine-turning); case band engraved in taille-douce (fine-cut); bezels, pendant and bow set with half-pearls.
–
Diameter: 55 mm
–
Signed: Just & Son, London
–
Enamel and various types of decoration Restored soft enamel.
–
The Chinese and the Flowers
Flowers have great symbolic importance for the Chinese. By their form, aspect, and fragrance, they are considered highly spiritual, reflecting the profound nature of the Chinese people. Poems and proverbs show the cultural importance of flowers: There is no flower without beauty in the world, A flower gives us a glimpse of paradise, etc. Certain flowers have a particular significance. The lotus symbolizes purity, the chrysanthemum perseverance, the plum blossom integrity, etc. With its generous forms, brilliant colours, and heady fragrance, the peony became the most important flower for the Chinese. It is considered to symbolize wealth, nobility, power, and happiness. Known as the queen of flowers, the peony symbolizes wealth and distinction. Paintings of flowers are often hung in Chinese homes for good luck and in offices to bring business success. The deep and rich symbolism the Chinese attached to flowers made them an ideal subject for expensive watches and those destined for exalted patrons, even for the Emperor himself.

The flower’s symbolism would have been immediately recognized and appreciated by China’s elite, who would have seen in them a flattering reference to their wealth and power. It’s extremely rare to find a watch from this period made for the Chinese market with a jewelled movement fitted with an English lateral lever escapement. Few other watches made by the same maker with this type of escapement are known. Just & Son, London Leonard Just specializes in making watches for the Chinese market. He worked in London between 1790 and 1825. Upon his death, the business passed to his son and carried on as Just & Son, Middleton Square. Like other English watchmakers trading with China, some of their watches were made by Swiss watchmakers from the Val-de-Travers area, of which Fleurier is the biggest village.