French 20 Carat rose gold repeating à toc pocket watch Circa 1806

Gold pocket watch with jump-hour 
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An extremely fine and equally rare French, 20 Carat rose gold, quarter repeating à toc pocket watch with jump hour hand and ruby cylinder escapement, circa 1806. Accompanied by a copy of the certificate, signed by George Brown. Sold to Monsieur Regel on April 22, 1806, for 1835 Francs. The case is made by master case maker Amy Gros, back and band engine turned, polished bezel and border. Hinged gold cuvette. White enamel dial, No. 121 by master dial maker Borel, secured by a blued steel screw, secret signature below 12, Breguet numerals, outer minute track. Blued steel Breguet hands.
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A gilt movement, bridge calibre with hanging barrel, jewelled to the centre, overhanging ruby cylinder escapement, three arm brass balance, blued steel flat balance spring with bimetallic compensation curb on the index regulator, pare-chute shock preventing device on the upper pivot, Breguet type all or nothing repeating system with vertical lifters, repeating by single hammer on a gold block in the case activated by a pull and twist piston in the band at 1 o’clock. Dial and case signed movement numbered on the dial plate.
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Diameter: 55 mm
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Signed: Breguet  Paris
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The present watch comes from a series of seventeen repeaters finished by Decombaz, one of the most skilled of Breguet’s workers and responsible for his famous Perpetuelles. No. 1565 appears to be the only watch known from this series. It features a very reliable Breguet-type repeating mechanism that allows for a single hammer, a jump hour mechanism simplifying the reading and his ingenious hanging ruby cylinder escapement. The watch has been finished with extra care, exemplified by the jeweling which goes to the centre wheel, the gold cuvette, and the 20 Carat gold used for the case.
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In the entire series, this was the only watch that was finished with the entire train jewelled. 5 trous au rouge were jewelled by Hooker, an English jewel piercer whom Breguet brought, or rather smuggled, from England to Paris. The jeweling process took Hooker three days from start to finish. The making of this watch took over a year, from 9 Frimaire An 12 to 11 Floréal An 13, the engine turning completed after the sale on August 4, 1807, apparently according to the buyer’s wishes.
Interestingly, in addition to this watch, Monsieur Regel bought four other almost identical repeaters from Breguet on that same day, for a total of almost 10,000 Francs. In return, Breguet gave him a ten per cent discount.