French one handed verge pocket watch “Oignon” Circa 1680

Open faced pocket watch with mock pendulum balance
–
A French large one-handed verge pocket watch “Oignon” with mock pendulum balance, circa 1680.
Brass case, mythological repoussé decoration. Brass firegilt dial, enamel cartouches with radial Roman numerals, single handed. Full plate movement, signed Bolslandon Metz, chain/fusee.
–
Diameter: 58 mm
–
Weight: 157 g
–
Signed: Bolslandon, Metz
–
“Oignons” were most popular in France during the last 30 years of the Sun King’s reign; only a few of them were produced later than that. Single-handed oignons such as this one are always wound through the hand’s pivot where a central steel wheel under the dial transmits the power to another wheel on the worm gear shaft; two-handed oignons are designed with a winding hole in the dial. Presumably there were workshops in France that produced ebauches for oignons, however, as of today no such ebauche has ever surfaced. Oignons have a large gap between the plates which means that the parts of the movement are well visible; the viewer can easily see the individual parts and how they work like in a large-scale model – this was part of the great appeal these watches had. The oignon is robust and useful pocket watches that – in contrast to the previous pocket and pendant watches at the time – shows the time with adequate accuracy.