French half pearl set miniature gold and enamel watch Circa 1810

Gold, enamel and half pearl-set open faced verge watch by Le Roy
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A very fine French 18 Carat gold and enamel, half pearl set open faced verge pendant watch, circa 1810.
Both bezels are set with half pearls, the back side with divided decoration, the upper part engine turned overlaid with translucent cobalt blue enamel, ornamented with half pearl set blades of grass, the lower part with a polychrome enamelled scene depicting a winged Cupid and a sheep within a half pearl set border, central champlevé enamel decoration and a reeded band. White enamel dial with Arabic numerals and blued Breguet hands. Signed, engraved full gilt plate movement with chain and fusee, solid movement pillars, three arm brass balance, verge escapement and pierced balance bridge.
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Diameter: 30 mm
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Weight: 21 g
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Signed: 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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In classical mythology, Cupid (also Amor) is the god of desire, erotic love, attraction and affection. He is often portrayed as the son of the love goddess Venus and the god of war Mars.