Extremely rare Japanese 18K gold pair cased verge Circa 1760

Gold miniature watch
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A very fine and extremely rare Japanese 18 carat gold pair cased miniature verge pocket watch, circa 1760. Full plate movement, chain and fusee, a verge escapement and three arm brass balance. A gold dial with twelve adjustable silver plated Toki markers with inlaid dual Japanese numerals 4 to 9 and blued hands for hour and minute display. The outer and inner cases are smooth. The movement with a Japanese signature.
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Diameter outer case: 25 mm
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Diameter inner case: 22 mm
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Weight: 21 g
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Signed: No name
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The time of this tiny timepiece’s creation fell into an era in which Europe was oriented towards Asian art. In Japanese clocks, the hours are counted from 9 backwards to 4 from noon to midnight. The Toki marks are mounted on a rotating disk and are adjusted to sunrise and sunset according to the length of the day and night throughout the year and are displayed using a single, fixed pointer. The present miniature watch has two movable hands that show the hours and minutes according to the European time display.