Swiss 18 carat gold “Punchinello” automaton Circa 1820

Pocket watch three Jacquemarts
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An extremely fine “Punchinello” automaton with three Jacquemarts, made by George Archard & Fils, in Geneva, Switzerland, circa 1820. This watch features a case crafted from 18 carat gold with an engine turned back lid and a numbered cuvette. The watch features a particularly magnificent Jacquemart automaton on its face, comprising three figures and four automaton functions. The golden façade frames two putti in the lower section, who strike bells with hammers to mark the quarter hours. Above them, a Punchinello appears in a window to strike the hours on a bell before the putti follow with the quarter hour chimes. The outer ring is fitted with an enamel dial bearing Arabic hour numerals and blued Breguet steel hands. The movement is equipped with a verge escapement and a  quarter repeater.
The cuvette is signed.
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Diameter: 58 mm
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Weight: 143 g
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Signed: Jn Achard Genève
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These special automatons with four sequences, like the one presented here, are much rarer than the conventional version of a Jacquemart with only two figures.
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A(r)chard
Georges A(r)chard was born on March 20, 1746 in Aouste-sur-Sye, (Aoste), Drôme, Rhône-Alpes, France. The Geneva based watchmaker and his brother Jean-Francois founded a company that mainly produced enamel watches with additional functions and existed until 1796. The brothers Jean-Francois & Georges Archard were also suppliers of Breguet. Later, he founded the company “Georges Archard & Cie” with his son-in-law Antoine. After that, he also founded the company “Archard & Fils” together with his son Marc Antoine Archard.