French decorative gold verge watch with chatelaine Circa 1775

Gold, enamel, diamond and pearl-set verge watch with chatelaine
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A very fine and rare French 18K gold, enamel, diamond and pearl-set Renaissance revival pocket watch with a matching chatelaine including a key and seal, circa 1775. The chatelaine and decoration date from circa 1860. The case back with a Limoges enamel portrait of Marie de Medici in a rose-cut diamond-set frame, a translucent red enamel border and an outer matte gold border decorated with enamel C scrolls, the bezel decorated to match.
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The chatelaine is decorated with finely painted Limoges enamel plaques depicting Marie de Medici, Henry IV and fleur-de-lys, translucent red enamel links set throughout with rose-cut diamonds with crowns, fleur-de-lys and crosses. White enamel dial, radial Roman hours, an outer minute track with Arabic five-minute numerals and rose-cut diamond-set fleur-de-lys hands. A gilt full plate movement, tapered pillars, fusee and chain, verge escapement with micrometric potence adjustment, three-arm brass balance, flat balance spring, continental balance cock, polished steel endplate, silver regulation dial. Movement signed.
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Diameter: 40 mm
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Signed: Jean Chambon Paris
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Jean Chambon was apprenticed in 1762 and became a master in 1766. He worked in Rue Mercier, Paris in 1778.
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Limoges enamel is named after the town in France where it was invented, it is the technique of painting with a special enamel called blanc de Limoges over a dark enamelled surface to form a detailed picture, often a human figure. Early Limoges pieces are usually painted en grisaille, later pieces generally contain more colours. In the 19th century, as interest in this form of artwork grew, enamel masters began to make copies of works from the age of the Renaissance, the present piece is a fine and interesting example of this 19th-century revival. In fact, the watch itself does date from the 18th century and has been decorated to match the splendid chatelaine. Under magnification, the portraits have real depth and detail.
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Marie de Medici was born on April 26^th, 1575 and died on July 3^rd, 1642, in Cologne in the Holy Roman Empire. She was Queen of France and Navarre as the second wife of King Henry IV of France of the House of Bourbon, and Regent of the Kingdom of France officially between 1610 and 1617. Marie was a member of the powerful House of Medici in the branch of the Grand Dukes of Tuscany, the wealth of her family caused Marie to be chosen by Henry IV to become his second wife after his divorce from his previous wife, Margaret of Valois. The assassination of her husband in 1610, which occurred the day after her coronation, caused her to act as regent for her son, Louis XIII, until 1614 when he officially attained his legal majority, but she refused to resign and continued as regent until she was removed by a coup in 1617. She ended up being banished from the country by her son.