Swiss gold chronometer with quarter repeater Circa 1820

Pink gold chronometer with quarter repeater
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A fine Swiss rare pink gold open faced quarter repeating chronometer made for Friedrich Wilhelm IV King of Prussia, circa 1820. Gilt-brass movement, fusee for the going train, spring detent escapement, cut bimetallic compensation balance, blued steel spherical balance spring, pink gold engraved cuvette, turn and slide pusher for the repeating.
White enamel dial with Roman hours, outer minute divisions, subsidiary Arabic constant seconds and blued steel moon hands. Guilloché case, fluted bezel. Cuvette and inside case back signed.
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Diameter: 60 mm
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Signed: Frederic Houriet
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When the present watch was made Friedrich Wilhelm IV was Prince of Neuchâtel, now part of Switzerland, he ordered the watch from Frederic Houriet, who was one of the most famous watchmakers of that time in the region of Neuchâtel. He offered the watch to his nephew Friedrich Carl Prince of Prussia as a present for his confirmation.

Jacques-Frédéric Houriet was born on February 25th, 1748, in La Chaux-d’Abel, which is located near La Ferriere. From 1759 to 1768 he apprenticed and worked in Paris for Julien le Roy, Pierre le Roy and Ferdinand Berthoud. While working for Berthoud he collaborated with Ferdinand’s nephew, (Pierre) Louis Berthoud. During his time in Paris, he formed friendships with Abraham Louis Breguet, Jean Romilly, Antide Janvier and Louis Recordon. After his years of study in the capital of France, he returned to Switzerland to establish himself in Le Locle. At first, he worked together with his brother and his two sisters. A short while after he became business partners with David Courvoisier, who at the time was the head of the firm Courvoisier & Fils. In 1797 Urban Jürgensen became his employee. A few years later Jürgensen married Houriets daughter, Sophie-Henriette. In 1919, at the age of 75, Houriet decided to continue working alone. He only manufactured pocket chronometers and custom-made items. Despite his old age he carried on with research and experiments on the foundation of isochronism, temperature compensation, and the effects of magnetism on chronometers. This is how golden, or more specifically spheric hairsprings emerge, which appear in the form of an orb or a spheroid. Jacques- Houriet is considered the founder of Swiss chronometry. He was a member of the Paris Academy of Sciences and an honorary member of the Genevan Society of Arts. Jacques-Frédéric Houriet died on January 12th, 1830.