French repeater à toc et à tac with written hours Circa 1770

Gold open faced pocket watch by Jaques Jerome Gudin
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A very rare, probably unique French verge watch repeater à toc et à tac, special dial with written hours, circa 1770.
18 carat pink gold case with decorative engraving, flags and lances on back, 5-part lateral hinge, very fine and barely visible sound openings, bell and bolt for switching from repeating on bell and silent repeating à toc. Signed verge movement with repeating hours and quarters. Very rare enamel dial with French written hours, red five minute markers and probably original pink gold hand.
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Diameter: 42 mm
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Weight: 77 g
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Signed: Gudin a Paris
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The watch is an absolute rarity. The value of this unique watch is already recognizable by the fact that large diamonds were used as ornamental elements for pendant and opening button. The possibility of switching between bell and “quiet repeating” was a technical refinement at that time. The dial with written numerals instead of numbers is extremely rare, we do not know any other similar example. Jacques Jérôme Gudin was born in Paris in 1732 to Jacques Gudin and Henriette Le Noir. She was a daughter of jeweler Pierre Le Noir and sister of Jean-Pierre Le Noir. He became master watchmaker on May 12th, 1762 and was then based on the Quai des Orfevres. In 1783 he moved to Rue St Honoré. Jacques Jérôme signed his watches with “Gudin fils” and “Gudin”. He worked for several years together with Jean Baptiste André Furet (Furet). He married Geneviève-Victoire Marteau in 1755, daughter of the goldsmith Jean Marteau. Jacques Jérôme Gudin died in 1789. Gudin watches are among others in the collections of Windsor Castle, the Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon in Dresden and the National museum Stockholm.