Swiss 18 carat gold cylinder watch with pearl setting Circa 1840

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 1840. 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.

All watches of this type known today are attributed to the manufacturer Bautte & Moynier in Genève, Switzerland. The typical dials are characterized by pearl set numerals and, of course, there are the breathtaking cases with 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.