Swiss gold and enamel musical automaton watches Circa 1820

Two gold and enamel automaton watches by Henry Capt
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A pair of exquisite and rare Swiss gold and enamel musical automaton watches featuring a scene of Cupid and Psyche, circa 1820. Made for the Chinese market nos. 6710 & 6711. The watches feature gilded movements with cylinder escapements, plain three-arm gold balances, standing barrels for going and musical trains, each with a sur plateau musical train, and 26 tuned teeth plucking both sides of a pinned disc. They also have off-set white enamel time dials with Roman numerals, blued steel hands, outer minute rings, and polychrome enamel-painted classical gardens. No. 6711 additionally includes blue flowers on the left side of the scene. The foregrounds of each watch have applied vari-colour gold automaton scenes depicting a lady playing the lute while Cupid and a butterfly are shown on a seesaw. The lady’s right arm strums the lute while the seesaw raises and lowers.
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The watches are housed in gold cases with an engine-turned back, band, bezel, and plain ring pendants. They each have a slide to the band beneath 6 o’clock to activate music/automata, gilt metal cuvettes with three apertures for winding and hand-setting, and are signed Hi Capt, à Genève. Inside the case backs, there are maker’s marks JR within a lozenge-shaped cartouche and the respective numbers 6710 & 6711.
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Diameters: 57 mm
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Both signed: Hi Capt, à Genève
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The watches feature finely enamel-painted scenes, each mounted with a vari-colour gold automaton. On the left, a lady strums a lute, while a seesaw with a butterfly on one side and Cupid on the other raises and lowers. The butterfly likely represents Psyche, with the scene symbolising the delicate balance of love.
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The movement of no. 6711 is operational and in good condition, with both the music and automaton functioning properly. The movement of No. 6710 is also operational and in good condition, with the music functioning properly. However, the action of the putto’s seesaw is somewhat intermittent and would benefit from adjustment. In terms of the dials, there is a scratch to the polychrome scene on 6711, while 6710 is in good overall condition. As for the cases, there are some slight imperfections such as rubbing, wear, and minor indentations on both 6711 and 6710.
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Henry-Daniel Capt was born in Le Chenit, Switzerland, in 1773. He was a renowned maker who specialised in crafting watches and music boxes with automata. Capt. was known for being the first to manufacture steel teeth capable of playing all musical notes. From 1802 to 1811, he collaborated with Isaac-Daniel Piguet under the business name Piguet & Capt. After Piguet’s departure, Capt continued alone until 1830, when he formed a new partnership with Aubert, establishing the firm Aubert & Capt. Most of Capt’s watches are unsigned, making it exceptionally rare to find a pair of musical automata watches with consecutive serial numbers and the maker’s signature.