Swiss French 18 carat gold and enamel verge watch Circa 1780

Extremely fine watch with quarter repeater
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An extremely fine gold and enamel verge watch with pearl setting and repeater, made by Frères Esquivillon & Dechoudens in Genève and Paris, circa 1780. The open faced case of this watch was crafted from 18 carat two tones gold, has a face set with pearls, a case band with fine sound openings, a bell and a back lid with a very beautiful quality enamel painting. The white enamel dial has Arabic five minute numerals, Roman hour numerals and gold hands. The numbered movement has a verge escapement and a quarter repeater on a bell.
The dial and movement are signed.
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Diameter: 47 mm
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Weight: 90 g
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Signed: F^res Esquivillon & Dechoudens
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Esquivillon & Dechoudens
Frères Esquivillon & Dechoudens, Genève, is considered one of the most important Geneva manufacturers of these enamel watches. They operated in Geneva and Paris from 1765 to 1830. The Geneva watchmaker Jacques De Choudens (1728-1801) established a workshop with the Esquivillon brothers: Joseph (1714-1798), Jean François (1733-1813) and Gédéon-François (1717-1799). They specialised in crafting high quality verge pocket watches. The timepieces were typically marked with Les Frères Esquivillon & De Choudens, but also bore the signatures Esquivillon & De Choudens and Les Frères Esquivillon.