Swiss 18 carat gold cylinder watch with pearl setting Circa 1800

Gold pearl set watch with key and original sales box
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A very fine and rare pocket watch made for the Chinese market by Jean François Bautte & Jean Gabriel Moynier in Genève, Switzerland, circa 1800. The open faced case of this watch, which was crafted from 18 carat gold, is profusely set with Oriental pearls and has an opening button in the pendant. The original gold dial has pearl set Roman hour numerals, a seconds track also set with pearls, an engine turned center and gold moon hands. The Lépine movement has a cylinder escapement.
The sales box is signed.
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Diameter: 44 mm
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Weight: 47 g
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Signed: H.F. Benoit Geneva
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 The present watch comes in its original presentation box of the Geneva jeweller H.F. Benoit and the original gold key.
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All watches of this type known today are attributed to the manufacturer Bautte & Moynier à Genève. The typical dial is characteristic, with pearl trimmed numerals and of course, the breath taking cases with the extremely valuable Oriental pearl settings. Today, only about ten of these watches are known to exist and they have already achieved collector’s prices at auctions. Some of these watches were in the Sandberg collection.
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Bautte & Moynier
The firm of Bautte & Moynier à Genève was a prominent Swiss pocket watchmaker and jeweller that operated as a formal partnership between Jean François Bautte & Jean Gabriel Moynier, for a brief, but highly influential, period in the early 19^th century, notably between 1821 and 1826.
After 1826 Bautte & Moynier was changed to Bautte & Cie as Jean-François Bautte continued the business, further developing his own manufacture.
After Jean-François Bautte’s death in 1837, the company, operating as Jean-François Bautte & Cie, was taken over by his son, Jacques Bautte and his son-in-law, Jean-Samuel Rossel, who formed a partnership to continue the business.

The company continued under the name Jean-François Bautte & Cie until 1855, when it became Rossel-Bautte & Cie, and subsequently Rossel & Fils in 1860.