Swiss 18k gold and enamel keyless dress watch Circa 1947

Gold open faced lever pocket watch
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A very fine and unique Swiss watch, 18K yellow gold and painted on enamel keyless dress watch, circa 1947. Enamel by Helen May Mercier. The back has a finely painted enamel scene of Venus and Cupid in an Arcadian river landscape. Silvered dial, brushed, applied yellow gold dart indexes and Arabic quarter-hour numerals, outer minute track, subsidiary seconds. Gold bâton hands. A rhodium-plated movement, Geneva striping decoration, 17 jewels, straight-line lever escapement, cut beryllium balance with timing screws, blued steel Breguet balance spring, swan-neck micrometre regulator. Dial, case and movement signed.
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Diameter: 46 mm
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Signed: Vacheron & Constantin  Genève
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Watches such as the present one, with very finely painted on enamel scenes executed by Geneva’s master enamelers, were always unique pieces made in only one example.  The scene of the present watch is taken from an 18th-century vignette. Helen May Mercier was an enamel painter and student of Charles Poluzzi, who worked during the second third of the 20th century.