French verge open faced pocket watch “Oignon” Circa 1695

Pocket watch with quarter repeater and mock pendulum balance 
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A French verge pocket watch “Oignon” with quarter repeater and mock pendulum balance from the watchmaker to the King of France and to the Duc d’Orleans, circa 1695.
Brass gilt case, chased, chiselled and pierced decoration, rear bell. Brass gilt dial, white enamel cartouches with blue radial Roman numerals. Full plate movement, chain/fusee, 1 hammer, large three-arm steel balance, signed Gaudron à Paris.
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Diameter: 56 mm
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Weight: 191 g
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Signed: Gaudron à Paris
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“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 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 such as this one 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.