Exceptional Swiss gold quarter repeating automaton Circa 1820

Gold automaton watch made for the Chinese market by Piguet & Meylan
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An important, Swiss semi pearl enamelled gold enamel pocket watch with central seconds, quarter hour repeater and hourly self-releasing musical mechanism with two automatons, circa 1820. Made for the Chinese market with an original gold studded and velvet lined saffiano leather box – A summer flower bouquet.
Bridge mechanism, key winding, two flying barrels, cylinder escapement, three armed ring balance, two hammers / two gongs, musical mechanism sur plateau with double-sided pin disc and vibrating blades, mirror polished, bevelled levers for musical mechanism.
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White enamel dial with Roman numerals and central seconds, decentralized and embedded in a pastoral scene in front of an opaque polychrome background. When the automatic mechanism is triggered, the two four coloured gold machine figures move at the lower edge of the dial: on the left, a young man is playing the lute, and on the right, a lady is playing the hurdy gurdy. At the same time, the musical mechanism begins to play.
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18 Carat rose gold, polychrome enamel case with half pearls and gold cuvette with floral decor in Champlevé enamel. The finely painted enamel medallion on the back is of the highest quality. It shows a filigree floral composition of roses, violets, morning glory and other summer flowers on an opaque light purple background. The middle part of the case, the pendant and the bracket are decorated with Champlevé enamel made of opaque dark and light blue ribbons and studded with small half pearls, as well as the bezels on both sides of the pendant and bracket – a watch of exceptional quality and colour intensity.
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Diameter: 53 mm
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Weight: 127 g
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Signed: Piguet & Meylan
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This wonderful piece resembles a new loft find.
It is a prime example of the heyday of Geneva enamel painting in the first half of the 19th century. A quality that has never been achieved again, either before or after. Enamel painting is the supreme discipline among enamel techniques such as Cloisonné and Champlevé. The miniature painting of the flower bouquet is of the highest perfection, expressed in the variety and finest nuances of the colours.
The individual colours were developed in layers at an oven temperature of 800 to 900 ° and required extreme skill, patience and experience. The burn in took place in 20 or more layers and firing processes, each process calling into question the previous work. Finally, a transparent enamel was applied as a protective layer to intensify the colours, also known as Fondant de Genève. An extremely risky process. It often took four to six months to achieve an enamel miniature of this quality.