Swiss silver revolutionary watch made for the French market 1794

Silver watch with decimal and duodecimal time
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A Swiss silver revolutionary watch with decimal and duodecimal time, circa 1794. Made for the French market. A polished case, the back with an engraved monogram. White enamel dial with a concentric indication of decimal time in black radial Roman numerals and Arabic 100-minute divisions, duodecimal time in red Arabic numerals I-12 in each half of the dial, with outermost 60-minute divisions. Gilt fleur-de-lis and pierced hands.
A hinged, frosted gilt, full plate movement with cylindrical pillars, fusee and chain, verge escapement with micrometric potence adjustment, brass three-arm balance with flat balance spring, continental cock, silver regulation dial.
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Diameter: 56 mm
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Signed: No name
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Some hairlines on the dial.
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This watch is evocative of a brief and turbulent period in French history when the new Republic decreed the use of decimal time. After the Revolution, a new digital system was adopted. The day was divided into ten hours of 100 minutes each, each minute being subdivided into 100 seconds. Thus, for example, 12:30 PM was 5:20:83.3 in decimal time. The decimalization of time was introduced on November 24, 1793. The new division of time proved impossible to enforce and was suspended on April 7, 1795. Thus, there was a period of fewer than 18 months during which these timepieces were produced, which explains why they are so rare. See: Revolutionary Time, Vox Magazine, 2004.