Fine English 18K gold enamel and pearl-set watch Circa 1820
- Kenmerk
- FA0230
- Diameter
- 60 mm
- Estimate
- € 30.000 - 60.000
- Price sold
- € 26.900
Gold enamel and pearl watch made for the Chinese market
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A fine and rare English yellow gold enamel and pearl open faced watch made for the Chinese market, circa 1820. Gilt duplex movement finely chased and engraved with foliate decoration, blued steel flat balance spring, diamond endstone, index regulator, engraved cuvette.
White enamel with radial Roman numerals and outer minute track, fleur-de-lys quarter hour markers, large subsidiary seconds.
18k Yellow gold case, back with shield shaped panel with polychrome enamel scene of ‘Abelard and Eloise’ attributed to Hess, Geneva, surrounded by translucent blue enamel on an engine-turned ground, gold and enamel engraved boarder, both bezels, stem and bow set with seed pearls, movement signed.
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Diameter: 60 mm
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Signed: William Ilbery
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William Ilbery (1760-1839) specialised in the production of luxury watches for the Chinese market. His early production was very much in the English style, featuring a full plate movement and an English type single wheel duplex escapement. The cases of his watches were sumptuously decorated by the best Geneva enamellers. He organized the production of his highly engraved movements for the Asian market in Switzerland, mainly in Fleurier. He was followed in this by makers such as Bovet and Juvet who also worked in Fleurier (Val de Travers). Ilbery can therefore be considered one of the most representative makers of “Chinese” watches.
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A fine and rare English yellow gold enamel and pearl open faced watch made for the Chinese market, circa 1820. Gilt duplex movement finely chased and engraved with foliate decoration, blued steel flat balance spring, diamond endstone, index regulator, engraved cuvette.
White enamel with radial Roman numerals and outer minute track, fleur-de-lys quarter hour markers, large subsidiary seconds.
18k Yellow gold case, back with shield shaped panel with polychrome enamel scene of ‘Abelard and Eloise’ attributed to Hess, Geneva, surrounded by translucent blue enamel on an engine-turned ground, gold and enamel engraved boarder, both bezels, stem and bow set with seed pearls, movement signed.
–
Diameter: 60 mm
–
Signed: William Ilbery
–
William Ilbery (1760-1839) specialised in the production of luxury watches for the Chinese market. His early production was very much in the English style, featuring a full plate movement and an English type single wheel duplex escapement. The cases of his watches were sumptuously decorated by the best Geneva enamellers. He organized the production of his highly engraved movements for the Asian market in Switzerland, mainly in Fleurier. He was followed in this by makers such as Bovet and Juvet who also worked in Fleurier (Val de Travers). Ilbery can therefore be considered one of the most representative makers of “Chinese” watches.
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Little is known about the enamel painter Hess who is recorded at 42, Allemands Dessous, Geneva, in 1828. See “the Dictionnaire des horlogers genevois”, by Osvaldo Patrizzi. His work is of extremely high quality and it is likely that his unsigned work has often been mistaken for the work of Jean-Louis Richter. The large almond shaped eyes of the subjects seem to be an identifying feature of his work.
Signed: William Ilbery
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