Rare Indian gold, enamel and diamond set pocket watch Circa 1875

Gold keyless lever watch by Peter Orr & Sons
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A rare Indian gold, enamel and diamond set keyless lever watch made for the Indian market with numerals in Urdu, circa 1875. The watch features a gilded three quarter plate movement with lever escapement, bimetallic compensation balance, and a decoratively engraved balance cock. It is signed and numbered Peter Orr & Sons Madras, with a serial number. The silvered dial is highly engraved with decorative floral scrolls and features numerals with blue enamel cartouches bearing diamond set Urdu numerals. It also includes two subsidiary dials for constant seconds and independent jumping seconds, with blued steel hands adorned with crescent moon and star motifs. The dial is signed: Peter Orr & Sons Madras.
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The gold case is decoratively engraved throughout, with the cover centrally set with a translucent blue enamel crescent moon over engine turning heightened with diamonds. The border features a repeated waveform motif heightened with opaque blue, black, and red enamel. The case back is similarly decorated and centred with a stylized flower heightened with enamel. The gold bezel has a decoratively engine turned border, and the front and back lids bear the maker’s mark JAD incuse and the serial number 19175.
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Diameter: 54 mm
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Signed: Peter Orr & Sons, Madras
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The dial is in good overall condition, but there is one diamond chip missing from the setting at 12 o’clock and one missing from the numeral at 8 o’clock. The case decoration is also in good overall condition, but with some scratches to the enamel decoration and one of the diamonds on the crescent moon is chipped. The movement is running.
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Peter Orr & Sons was a well established company specializing in fine watches and jewellery in Madras. The firm was founded by Peter Orr and his brother, Alexander, who arrived in Madras from Scotland in 1843. In 1849, they established the firm Peter Orr & Sons.
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Urdu is an Indo-Aryan language and the national language of Pakistan. It is closely related to Hindi and mutually intelligible with it. Urdu vocabulary has significant influence from Persian and Arabic, while Hindi contains more vocabulary from Sanskrit.