French silver coach clock with self strike and alarm Circa 1650

Coach clock with early complicated verge escapement
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An extremely early coach clock with self strike and alarm in museum quality, made by Barthélémy Macé in Blois, France,  circa 1650. The splendidly pierced silver case has a back with three openings for winding the mechanism, a self striking mechanism and alarm and bell. The dial has an enamel outer ring with Roman hour numerals, a fire gilt  alarm disc in the center and blued steel hands. The movement has an early highly complicated verge escapement, three barrels, two hammers and a splendid verge bridge.
The movement is signed.
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Diameter: 108 mm
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Weight: 1.220 g
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Signed: B. Macé Blois (plate), Gaudron Paris (rim)
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The clock belongs to the earliest known coach clocks of the 17^th century and is a museum rarity. It was obviously overhauled or modernized by the famous Pierre Gaudron, Court watchmaker of the Duc d’Orleans and the King of France or his father Antoine Gaudron from Blois, which can be concluded from the fact that the clock has an early hairspring and the verge bridge was signed Gaudron! The clock has been known since 2000 when it was first auctioned in Geneva as part of an important verge watches collection, estimated at that time at CHF 55.000 – 65.000. The clock is described in detail in the auction catalogue as lot 378. The date of modernization is dated 1680 – 1690, shortly after the invention of the hairspring.
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Macé
In the Macé family from Blois were two watchmakers named Barthélémy, they were father and son. The father married in 1630 and died in 1662 and is known as a watchmaker of fine watches and probably also of this coach clock. Pierre Gaudron is regarded as an outstanding watchmaker, he was the son of Antoine Gaudron and brother of Antoine Gaudron. He worked in Paris between 1690 and 1730 and also made watches for the government. Gaudron was the Court watchmaker of the Duc d’Orleans and the King of France. He became master watchmaker in 1695.
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Antoine Gaudron
Antoine Gaudronwas born in Blois around 1640. He eventually moved to Paris and became a master in Saint-Germain des Près in 1665. In 1698 he and his sons established a company that traded among other things in watches and clocks, jewellery, bronzes and porcelain. There are many marvellous pocket watches and table clocks by Gaudron with cases created by the finest ebonistes of his time such as André-Charles Boulle. Gaudron is known as one of the first makers in Paris to have built pendulum clocks. During the controversy over the equation of time, his son Pierre claimed that his father had created the first equation clock in 1688. Antoine Gaudron died in 1714, a wealthy man of excellent reputation.