French exceptionally fine gold and enamel verge watch Circa 1750

Gold, enamel and tortoiseshell verge watch
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An exceptionally fine French rare 22 Carat gold and enamel verge pocket watch with a tortoiseshell covered outer case, the Birth of Venus, circa 1750.
Gilded brass tortoiseshell covered outer case decorated with studs, a gold inner case with a polychrome enamel scene on the back, the miniature depicting the birth of Venus framed by a wide, engraved gold border with polychrome opaque and translucent basse taille flowers and leaves, maker’s mark MM under a crown. White enamel dial with Roman hours, Arabic five minute numerals and decorative hands. Signed full plate movement, chain and fusee, three arm steel balance.
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Diameter: 50 mm
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Weight: 95 g
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Signed: Julien Le Roy à 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. 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 in order 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.
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Basse taille is an enamelling technique in which the artist creates a low relief pattern in metal, usually silver or gold, by engraving or chasing. The entire pattern is created in such a way that its highest point is lower than the surrounding metal. A translucent enamel is then applied to the metal, allowing light to reflect from the relief and creating an artistic effect. It was used in the late Middle Ages, and then again in the 17th century.
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Venus is the Roman goddess of love, originally the ancient Italian goddess of vegetation, and protector of gardens and vineyards. Later she was identified with the Greek Aphrodite. She was born from the foam of the sea. Venus was often depicted in Roman culture as a woman with a round object in her hand, for example, an apple or a mirror, but sometimes also with Cupid (the Roman god of love) or Victoria (the personified Roman goddess of victory) on her hand and also with a rudder or a dolphin. She was a favourite subject for many artists in antiquity too.