German silver pair cased verge with wandering hours Circa 1710

Silver verge in pair cases by Johann Jakob Serner
–
A very fine and extremely rare German silver pair cased verge pocket watch with wandering hours, circa 1710. Full plate movement with a polychrome enamel portrait of a courtly lady in a low necked red dress with a powder wig and a blue cape, chain and fusee and a three arm steel balance. Brass dial with a rectangular window for the wandering silver champlevé Roman hour numerals surmounted by a silver Arabic retrograde minute track, a silver semicircle for the indication of the quarter hours below, in the lower half an oval, polychrome enamel miniature, which probably depicts Frederick I of Prussia (1657-1713) surrounded by military equipment. The transport case is covered with shagreen decorated with studs, a plain inner case.
–
Diameter: 58 mm
–
Weight: 158 g
–
Signed: Joh. Jac. Serner Lübeck
–
The two Geneva polychrome enamel miniatures are of the quality of the Huaud brothers.
–
Watches with moving hour dials were first developed in the 17th century. In England in particular, they were often ordered by the king to present to visitors or to give as a sign of loyalty. In Italy, the wandering hours system was simultaneously used for night clocks, with the Campani brothers believed to be the first to use this system.
–
The Lübeck clockmaker Johann Jakob Serner worked with Michael Bürger to build the tower clock for the Church of St. Lorenz in Lübeck. Serner was married twice. He died before 1728. His son of the same name, Johann Jakob Serner II (died 1753), was also a watchmaker in Lübeck. His works can be found in the Tyrolean State Museum in Innsbruck and in private collections.