Rare enamel gold duplex for the Chinese market Circa 1860

Rare Chinese market duplex with enamelled movement
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A rare enamelled Swiss duplex for the Chinese market in a plain gold case, circa 1860.
Key wind Tixier calibre movement with gilt champlevé blue and white enamel cock, bridges and suspended going barrel. Silvered engine turned plate. Garnet endstone in gold engraved setting, polished steel regulator. Blue steel stop work and screws. Polished steel three-arm balance with three blue steel affixes, spiral hairspring. Steel crab tooth duplex escape wheel allowing the hand to appear to beat seconds. White enamel dial with Roman numerals, centre seconds and blued spoon-shaped hands. Plain gold case, gold oval pendant and bow, button to release the back cover. Glazed gilt sprung cuvette with apertures for winding and handset.
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Diameter: 56 mm
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Weight: 126 g
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Signed: No name
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Similar watches are illustrated and described in: Alfred Chapuis “La Montre Chinoise”, Geneva 1983, p. 179-181.
Jean Tixier Tardy lists the name Jean Tixier – and we can assume that the entry refers to this Tixier ‘ for a village watchmaker at Clermont-Ferrand.
He is recorded to have worked there from 1840 to 1854; then the Frenchman presumably moved to Fleurier. In Fleurier, he was soon involved in the production of goods for the Chinese marked and made important changes to the movements designed for this customer group. Tixier used a symmetrically laid-out movement and updated the existing so-called “Chinese” calibre with a 3/4 plate. He created a number of calibres, some with an 8-day power reserve. His calibre was also used when in 1858 Pelaz, a maker from Geneva decided to enamel movements for the Chinese market.