French 20K gold repeater made for the Islamic market Circa 1800

Gold, enamel and pearl pair cased verge
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A charming French 20 carat gold, enamel and pearl set pair cased quarter repeating verge pocket watch, circa 1800. Flower Bouquet by Julien Le Roy is made for the Islamic market. The outer case: is gilt metal, overlaid with shagreen, and the back with holes for sound emission. The inner case: is gold, the bezel decorated with pierced engraved gold and red translucent enamel flowers and foliage and white enamel flower heads, blue translucent enamel banding, pearl set bezel, the back decorated with very finely painted enamel flowers on a blue ground, pearl set border, translucent red and opaque blue borders and outer border to match the bezel, shuttered aperture for winding and symmetrical faux winding hole.

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White enamel dial with radial Islamic hours, outer dot minute track, Islamic five minute numerals, and blued steel Breguet hands. A frosted gilt full plate movement, cylindrical pillars, fusee and chain, verge escapement with micrometric potence adjustment, three arm brass balance, flat balance spring, pierced and engraved continental balance cock with polished steel endplate, silvered regulation disc with Islamic numerals, repeating on a bell activated by depressing the pendant. Dial, movement and dust cap signed.
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Diameter: 54 mm
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Signed: Jn Le Roy A Paris
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Julien Le Roy is one of the clockmakers who contributed most to the progress and the reputation of French watch- and clockmaking. Born in Tours on August 6, 1686, and died in 1759 in Paris. He came to Paris in 1699. In 1713 he achieved his master’s degree and in the following years, he became a jury member of the Paris Guild of Watchmakers. Later, Le Roy became director of the Société des Arts de Genève and, in 1739, Court Watchmaker (French Horloger Ordinaire du Roi) under Louis XV, he had his private quarters in the Louvre. He improved almost all branches of clockmaking and many important inventions in the realm of time measurement are owed to him. In 1717, Julien Le Roy presented an equation clock to the Royal Academy of Sciences which showed the true time, the place of the sun and its decline. His most important discoveries concerned watch mechanisms.
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The adjustable ‘potence’ for the verge escape wheel considerably improved the escapement’s functioning and the steel end-piece (coqueret) which allowed oil to be retained in the balance pivots to diminish frictional force, was quickly adopted by other watchmakers. He was the inventor of dumb repeating watches too, in 1740, he created a new arrangement that allowed the area allotted to the repeating work to be enlarged. This invention, called ‘à bâte levée’, was also adopted by his fellow clockmakers. In 1755 he invented a small anchor escapement used as a regulator for the repeating train. He contributed to the Encyclopédie by writing several articles on clockmaking together with his son Jean-Baptiste, the Academician. Le Roy ran his workshop in the Rue de Harlay in Paris until his death. Examples of his timepieces can be found in various important museums around the world, such as the Louvre and the Victoria and Albert Museum.