French 18k gold quarter repeating pocket watch Circa 1817

Gold watch ruby cylinder escapement
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A very fine and rare French, 18K gold quarter repeating pocket watch with ruby cylinder escapement, circa 1817. Sold to Leroy, Constantinople on May 22, 1817, for 1,300 Francs. Accompanied by a Breguet red morocco fitted box and a certificate dated 1966. An engine-turned, reeded bezel and border. Gilt metal cuvette. White enamel dial, Islamic numerals, outer minute track, secret signature below 12. Blued steel Breguet hands.

A frosted gilt movement, standing barrel, overhanging ruby cylinder escapement, three-arm brass balance, pare-chute on the upper pivot, blued steel flat balance spring, index regulator with bimetallic temperature compensation curb, all-or-nothing repeating with two hammers on two gongs activated by a pull-and-twist piston in the pendant. Dial and cuvette signed.
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Diameter: 53 mm
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Signed: Breguet  Paris
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In 1811, in search of new markets to compensate for the recession, Breguet remembered the advice given him by Ali Effendi in 1802: Send one of your most skilful watchmakers to Constantinople … and your name will become as famous as that of the English. Later that year Leroy settled in Constantinople as Breguet’s agent. The firm sent him, on an average, 6 to 8 pieces per year until 1820, after which date sales slowed somewhat. But along with these expensive pieces made in Paris, there was an even greater number of less expensive pieces, made in Geneva for Breguet and sold under the signature Breguet or Leroy, élève de Breguet. Other Breguet representatives at the time were: – Fatton in London (New Bond Street No. 45) – Ferrier cadet in Moscow – Wenham in St. Petersburg (Nevsky Perspective No. 66) – Henry Kessels in Altona (Kleine Mullenstrasse No. 448) – Friedrich Gutkaes in Dresden – P.F. Fontaine in Naples (Strada del Gigante No 21) And probably as well: – Charost in Madrid – Holzman in Vienna. This type of case was typical of those made for the Turkish market. Certain of them were also used for cabriolet watches.