Fine small French 18 Carat gold lady’s pendant watch Circa 1840

Gold cylinder watch with experimental balance
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A fine small French 18 Carat gold lady’s pendant watch with experimental balance, circa 1840. Sold to Madame la Maréchale de Lauriston on 30 April 1840 for 1300 Francs.
An engine-turned back with winding and setting apertures, an engine turned band with a provision for regulation at 10 o’clock, wound and set from the back with a male key. Matte silver dial, engraved with a neo Gothic rosette in the centre, champlevé radial Roman numerals, outer minute dot divisions and gold Breguet hands. Early brass bar calibre movement, six jewels, cylinder escapement, steel escape wheel, unusual three arm uncut superimposed bimetallic platinum and blued steel balance, blued steel balance spring, parachute shock protection on the top pivot.
Signed and numbered on the dial, numbered inside the back cover and stamped with case maker’s mark and French 18 ct. gold mark.
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Diameter: 29.5 mm
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Signed: Breguet  Paris
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This watch employs a very unusual, apparently experimental balance: the top part is made of steel and is fused to the platinum bottom. Leopold Secheret, a case maker, entered his mark in Paris in May 1834. He was the case maker Breguet Neveu most used. Madame la Maréchale de Lauriston was the wife of Jacques Law, Marquis de Lauriston (1768 – 1828), Aide de camp to Napoleon Bonaparte in 1800 and 1805, Ambassador to Russia in 1811, and nominated Maréchal de France by Louis XVIII. He participated in the 1823 Spanish expedition.