Swiss centre seconds duplex for the Chinese market Circa 1830

Silver pocket watch with open face by Edouard Bovet
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A large Swiss pocket watch with eight days of power, jumping centre seconds, circa 1830.
Key winding floral engraved bridge movement with a flying barrel, monometallic screw balance with screwed-on blued weight. And a Chinese duplex escapement, according to Charles Edouard Jacot. Enamel dial with 12 Chinese characters and corresponding animal symbols of the Chinese zodiac for the twelve Shi two-hour periods; that’s why the number ring in the centre has a double 12-hour division, and the hour hand in the middle moves around once every 24 hours. Silver polished plain case, factory glazing.
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Diameter: 63 mm
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Weight: 151 g
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Signed: Bovet
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Of the European pocket watch manufacturers who produced watches for the Chinese market, the most famous were Ilbery in London and Bovet and Vaucher from Fleurier. They had branches in China, and imported clockworks and enamel works directly from Switzerland to China.