Attractive Swiss gold repeater with six complications Circa 1851

Gold lever with enamel coat of arms
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A very rare, large Swiss 18K rose gold, cloisonnè and painted-on enamel keyless pocket watch, circa 1851. Watch with six complications: Minute repeating, perpetual calendar, moon phases and lunar calendar. A polished case with master mark MF (Meylan Freres), the front cover with a very finely painted enamel and cloisonnè Ducal coat of arms, the back cover with a further finely painted enamel and cloisonne Vicomte’s coat of arms and the motto Malo Mori Quam Faedari (Death Before Dishonor), flat band. Hinged gold cuvette engraved with the listing of Louis Audemar’s prize medals from 1851-1879.
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White enamel dial with radial Roman numerals, outer minute track with Arabic five-minute numerals, subsidiary dials for the seconds, date, days of the week and months with leap year cycle, aperture for the moon phases with a lunar calendar on the edge and gold spade hands. A matte gilt brass movement, 31 jewels, straight-line lever escapement with Audemars Bishop’s crook counterpoise, cut bimetallic compensation balance, blued steel Breguet balance spring, index regulator, repeating on gongs with two polished steel hammers, activated by a slide in the band. Dial, case and cuvette signed, case with punch mark MF for Meylan Freres.
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Diameter: 53 mm
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Signed: Louis Audemars  Brassus
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This watch is the best quality Audemars minute-repeater calibre with perpetual calendar. The case is magnificently enamelled with the coats of arms of both a Duke and a Vicomte, each quartering of the arms is within a gold cloison further adding to the superb finish of the watch. The case and dial are fully signed and the watch exhibits two features of classic Louis Audemars watches: the repeat slide with indentation and the lever fork with Bishop’s crook counterpoise. This watch is well documented in the archives of Louis Audemars and the extracts can be obtained at the buyer’s expense if desired.