Swiss 18 carat rose gold quarter repeating musical watch Circa 1810

Rose gold musical repeater attributed to Henry Capt
–
A rare Swiss 18 carat rose gold open faced quarter repeating musical pocket watch, circa 1810. Full plate movement, two barrels, two hammers, two gongs, key winding and a three arm ring balance. Two-tone gold dial, a polished chapter ring with Arabic hour numerals, outer minute dots, a radiant engine turned center with a finely engraved flower in the middle and spade hands. An engine turned case back with a central blank cartouche, reeded band, maker’s mark RB and a pusher for activating the musical movement between 4 and 5 o’clock. Case numbered.
–
Diameter: 59 mm
–
Weight: 124 g
–
Signed: No name
–
This enchanting and highly complex timepiece is almost certainly the work of the extraordinary Geneva watchmaker Henry Capt. It has several unusual features like the musical movement being housed between the plates with a pinned barrel instead of the usual sur-plateau type.
–
Henry-Daniel Capt was an independent Swiss watchmaker who specialized in watches with additional complications such as musical watches and automatons. Capt was one of the first in Geneva to use barrels and crowns in his automatons. He was born in Chenit in the Vallée de Joux in April 1773, as the son of Jaques Samuel Capt and Susanne Piguet. His brother was Charles Samuel Capt. On January 1st, 1796, he married Henriette Piguet. In the Vallée de Joux, Capt trained as an établisseur. Around 1789, Henry settled in Geneva and worked for renowned companies such as Jaquet-Droz, Godet, Leschot and his brother-in-law Daniel Isaac Piguet.

In 1802 he went into partnership with Daniel Isaac Piguet, which lasted until 1811. When this partnership ended, Capt kept producing his pieces before entering another partnership with Aubert et Fils in 1830 as Aubert & Capt, located in Place Bel-Air, Geneva. The firm was taken over by his son, Henry Capt, in 1844. He opened a shop on the Rue du Rhône in 1855, which quickly gained an excellent reputation. During the 1870s, the Henry Capt company advertised that they were the only Geneva watch manufacturer to have a branch retail house in London. He also established branches in Paris, Nice and New York. The house of Henry Capt flourished for many decades. Henry-Daniel Capt died in 1841.