French gold repeater with special lever escapement Circa 1830

Gold open faced quarter repeater
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A rare French 18K gold quarter repeating pocket watch with special lever escapement, circa 1830. An engine-turned and polished case, the back with a small monogram AR, engine-turned band. Hinged gilt metal cuvette engraved with the technical details. Engine-turned silver dial with radial champlevé Roman numerals, outer minute divisions and gold Breguet hands. A frosted gilt movement, 12 jewels, standing barrel, special polished steel lateral lever escapement with an elongated lever arm, the fork engaging a locking pin on the balance pivot, polished steel three-arm balance with blued steel laminae on the upper surface, blued steel flat balance spring, index regulator, repeating with two massive polished steel hammers on two gongs activated by a pull-and-twist piston in the pendant, polished steel repeating work under the dial. Cuvette signed.
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Diameter: 53 mm
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Signed: Père Bouhelier
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Père Bouhelier A native of Saint Julien, a small village near Charquemont, in Franche Comte, where his surname was very common. Although mostly farmers, the population made cylinder escapements in winter-time, for both the French and the Swiss makers. It is interesting to note that the few watches known from this maker are all constructed with this very unusual calibre and all set with the same type of straight-line lever escapement. Very few watches made by Père Bouhelier are known to exist.
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Two were discussed in Horlogerie Ancienne, bulletin of the A.N.C.1–I. A. These watches were made with a very special primitive calibre, each of special designs. It was difficult to decide whether he was ahead of his time, technologically speaking, or behind. As Père Bouhelier was a priest who emigrated to England during the French Revolution, it is most likely that he learned how to make the lever escapements during his enforced exile based on his own trial and error.