Extremely Russian watch entirely made of bone Circa 1865

Pocket watch entirely made of bone
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A Russian pocket watch entirely in bone accompanied by an original carved bone chain with a key and a hook at its end, circa 1865. Mechanical key-wound movement entirely made of bone with pin bridges, barrel with steel mainspring, cylinder escapement, wooden balance with steel balance spring in the centre.
Bone dial with white cartouches in Arabic numerals, pearled minute track and small second hand, skeleton mechanism visible in the centre.
Circular bone case, the hinged back engraved with Cyrillic initials under the mitre of a Russian Orthodox bishop, bezels with turned ribs on the edges, signed inside in Cyrillic characters.
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Diameter: 41 mm
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Signed: Mikhail Semynonovitch Bronnikov, Vjatka, Russia (today the city of Kirov)
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Bronnikov watches are absolutely rare. Only a few of them are completely preserved. The few known examples are in such important collections as the Kremlin, the Hermitage and the Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon in the Dresden Zwinger.
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The famous wooden watches by the Bronnikovs are very rare and bone watches are much rarer. Far fewer examples were made and even fewer survive today. Bronnikov
The Bronnikov family came from Vjatka, Russia, and specialized in the making of all-wood, and all-ivory watches. The first recorded member of the family was Ivan Bronnikov (c. 1770 – 1860), a skilful joiner and turner.
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His son was Semyon Ivanovitch (1800 – 1875). Semyon had seven sons, among them Mikhail Semyonovitch and Nicolai Semyonovitch, who continued his work, as did Mikhail’s son Nicolai Mikhailovitch, who was the last watchmaker in the family. Nicolai Mikhailovitch left Vjatka for Moscow in 1909 or 1910 and is said to have worked there for the firm of Paul Buhre. Watches by the Bronnikovs are found in the Hermitage, the Moscow Clock Industry Research Institute, the Tbilisi Museum of People’s Art, the Physics and Math Salon of Dresden, in museums in Vjatka, Slobodskoi, Veliky Ustyug, Cherepovets, and in private collections in Moscow, Angarsk, Zlatoust, and Irkutsk. Known signatures include “M.S. Bronnikov in Vjatka”, “The Bronnikov Brothers in Vjatka”, and “N.M. Bronnikov in Vjatka”.