Swiss gold automaton repeating pocket watch Circa 1810

Gold open faced key winding verge watch
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A fine Swiss 18 carat yellow gold open faced automaton quarter repeating pocket watch made by Du Bois Calame, circa 1810. It has a mechanical key winding full plate movement with a verge fusee escapement, an intricately pierced and engraved balance cock, and two hammers striking internal gongs to repeat the hours and quarter hours, signed Du Bois Calame. The skeletonized dial features a small central white enamel hour ring with painted black Arabic numerals, framed by an open aperture revealing the inner motion works and flanked by elaborate golden friezes with two applied gilded metal Jacquemart automaton figures that strike their bells in tandem with the repeating sequence. The minute hand is missing.
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The timepiece is housed in a substantial round three body, 18 carat solid yellow gold open faced case with a finely engine turned reverse back cover, a delicately fluted caseband, a long cylindrical winding stem, and a sturdy round suspension bow. The watch comes with an ornate winding key attached to a silk ribbon.
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Diameter: 60 mm
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Signed: Du Bois Calame
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The absence of the minute hand leaves the dial train partially exposed. The delicate movement assembly and intricate automaton mechanism require professional servicing and restoration to return this early nineteenth century Swiss masterpiece to full operational archival condition.
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Du Bois Calame was a highly prestigious partnership active during the golden age of Swiss horology in the early nineteenth century. Based mainly in the historic watchmaking hubs of Le Locle and Geneva, the firm emerged from a strategic alliance between two prominent watchmaking dynasties in the Swiss Jura region, the Du Bois and Calame families. Du Bois Calame gained immense international acclaim for specializing in high luxury, mechanically complex timepieces, especially musical automaton pocket watches featuring animated Jacquemart figures and quarter repeating strike mechanisms. Their production from 1800 to 1820 combined mechanical ingenuity, using precisely tuned hammers striking internal gongs, with theatrical aesthetic layouts. Instead of traditional solid faces, they often used semi skeletonized dials that exposed the underlying motion works to create a captivating backdrop for their animated gilded figures. Housed almost exclusively in solid 18 carat gold cases decorated with flawless engine turned geometric patterns, surviving Du Bois Calame timepieces are exceptionally scarce today. They are regarded as historically significant, museum quality masterpieces sought by premier collectors worldwide.