Swiss 18 carat gold large clockwatch with grande sonnerie Circa 1810

Pocket watch with quarter repeater
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A large gold clock watch with grande sonnerie and repeater, made by DuBois & Fils in le Locle, Switzerland, circa 1810.The numbered and open faced case of this watch was crafted from 18 carat gold and is engine turned on the back with an empty cartouche at 6b o’clock. The gold dial has Roman hour numerals and Breguet steel hands and the extremely fine and technically highly interesting movement has an unusual lever escapement, a quarter hour self strike, a quarter repeater, temperature compensation and an early shock absorber.
Dial and movement are signed.
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Diameter: 58 mm
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Weight: 129 g
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Signed: DuBois & Fils
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DuBois
In 1785 Philippe Du Bois and his sons founded the Du Bois & Fils 1785 watch company at the family seat in Le Locle. Du Bois had already established extensive business connections all over Europe and America as a cloth merchant, which made things much easier for the start-up watch company. During the 19th century, Du Bois & Fils opened branches in Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and the United States and business boomed. Due to its proximity to the trade fairs, the Germany Frankfurt branch was particularly important.

At the time DuBois & Fils was one of the most important établisseurs of the Le Locle region. He employed a relatively large number of independent artisans. His account books, preserved by the family, show that he sold watches of all types throughout nearly all of Europe, as well as in the United States, the Middle and the Far East, and even as far as China.
While certain of their watches are signed, mostly bear the signature of the wholesaler, the importer, or the retailer. All these watches, whether or not they have repeating mechanisms, and whatever their signature, were produced in Switzerland. They are among the best watches of the kind made at the time.