English gold enamel watch for the Chinese market Circa 1820

Gold watch made for the Chinese market
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An English 18 carat gold and enamel watch with central seconds, made for the Chinese market and depicting a hunting scene on the back, circa 1820. Gilt movement with key winding, Chinese calibre finely decorated with foliate and engraved stylized motifs, suspended barrel, blued balance spring, duplex escapement, advance/delay adjustment index on the balance bridge, signature on the plate Ilbery London.
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White enamel dial with Roman numerals for the hours and Arabic numerals for the minutes, central seconds with half-second beat, external pearled minute track with baton indexes, signed in the centre Ilbery London.
Round case on hinge, fully enamelled, bezel, rim, pendant and bail decorated with polychrome champlevé enamel, the back decorated with a finely painted polychrome enamel scene depicting a young hunter on foot near his horse with his two spaniels in a countryside landscape, the cartouche set with half-pearls, translucent blue enamel border, gold cuvette with key winding square.
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Diameter 59 mm
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Weight. 137.3 gr.
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Signed: Ilbery London
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This watch intended for the Chinese market combines a high-quality “Chinese Calibre” movement manufactured by William Ilbery of London with a richly decorated gold case, characterized by a finely painted enamel miniature attributed to the Genevan enameler Jean-Louis Richter (1766-1841).

The enamel-painted scene that decorates the current watch is inspired by English genre paintings by artists of the Royal Academy, such as Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792) or others, who specialized in images of romanticized English daily life in the last quarter of the 18th century.

Their paintings were engraved and sold as prints, which were hugely successful and served as models for Genevan enamelers, including Jean-Louis Richter.

The duplex escapement that our “Chinese Calibre” features was only found in high-quality pocket watches. A duplex escapement wheel has a double toothing or two superimposed escapement wheels. The action of the duplex escapement is recoil-free and therefore similar to that of a chronometer, making it an ideal precision tool to provide the seconds indication by a central second hand, a feature highly prized in the Chinese market.