French gold enamel watch with matching chatelaine Circa 1750

Gold, rock crystal and enamel verge watch by Julien Le Roy
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A unique French verge watch made of gold, rock crystal, and enamel, accompanied by a short vari-colour, rock crystal, and enamel chatelaine, circa 1750. This watch features a gilded full-plate movement with verge escapement. The balance bridge is decoratively pierced and engraved with geometrically arranged stylized flower heads, along with a silver regulation plate, fusee and chain, and square baluster pillars. It is signed by Jul. le Roy of Paris. The dial is white enamel with Roman numerals, an outer Arabic minute ring, an aperture for winding at 3 o’clock, and filigree hands. The case back is made of rock crystal and centred with green enamel and diamond-set floral spray. It also features a rock crystal bezel, stirrup-form pendant, and bow. The mounts for the rock crystal are chased and engraved with scrolling foliage.
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Diameter: 41mm
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Length including chatelaine: 100 mm
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Signed: Julien Le Roy, Paris
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The dial is in good overall condition with minor chipping at the edge. The case has small scratches on the rock crystal and the short chatelaine shows some metal discoloration. The front of the case has been replaced with glass. Two of the large diamonds may be replacements as they are not rose cut as expected for this period. The movement is running and appears to be in good clean condition.
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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 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.