Swiss decorative gold and enamel ball form watch Circa 1890

Gold and enamel Boule de Genève attributed to Marius LeCoultre
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A Swiss, decorative 18K yellow gold and enamel form watch in the shape of a Boule de Genève, circa 1890-1900.
Ball-form case with red enamel decor. White enamel dial, blue Arabic numerals, red 12, outer minutes track and spade hands. Gilded brass movement based on the Swiss invention patent No. 114 delivered on January 12, 1889, to Marius Lecoultre for a mécanisme de remontoir de montre à commande horizontal (a watch winder mechanism with horizontal control), keyless-winding, going barrel, lateral equilibrated lever escapement, compensated balance, blued steel flat hairspring. Accompanied by an 18K yellow gold, enamel and diamond-set matching brooch.
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Diameter: 20 mm
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Signed: No name
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Marius LeCoultre was born on February 1, 1847, in Geneva. He was the son of watchmaker couple Eugène Constant LeCoultre and Louise Jaqueline Simone Soldano. Marius married Élisa LeCoultre (1847-1904). From this marriage, two daughters were born Élisabeth Marie (1876-1951) and Bertha Julie (1881-1882). Marius LeCoultre died on December 15, 1915, in Geneva, aged 68. He was buried on December 16.
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A Boule de Genève (Geneva ball) is a type of pendant watch in the shape of a small ball or sphere originating from Geneva, Switzerland. The dial is usually at the bottom of the sphere facing the floor, at the opposite side of the jump ring on the upper part of the sphere. Although there are examples with a front view face. Usually, they were Arabic numeral dials, sometimes Roman, and from the 1950s different types of hour markers were also used. This objet de vertu frequently came with a matching brooch, chain or chatelaine. The term Boule de Genève is generic, it doesn’t mean that a given watch was necessarily made in the city or Canton of Geneva. Geneva balls were crafted in different sizes, styles, materials and decorative techniques, such as gold, silver, other metals, guilloché enamel, enamel, cloisonné, adorned with diamonds, pearls etc. They were intended as an accessory mainly for women.
The first Boules de Genève date from the 1860s, marketed by firms such as Patek Philippe from 1866. They featured the winding mechanism invented by Marius Lecoultre (1847-1915) of Geneva and patented in Switzerland in 1889 (the Swiss patent office was not created until 1888). Winding by rotating the hemisphere containing the dial and time-setting by pressing the protruding, cylindrical shaped button at one side of the orb while turning the said hemisphere clockwise or counterclockwise. These watches have no key or crown. Lecoultre’s winding system was also used in some ring watches and wristwatches of the time.
In the 1878 Pairs Exposition Universelle, Patek Philippe devoted a showcase to these ball form timepieces. And years later sold pieces to royalty such as Sultan Hussein Kamel of Egypt in 1887 and Empress Teresa of Brazil in 1888.