French 18K gold and enamel astronomic watch Circa 1892

Gold repeating open faced lever watch
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An extremely fine and very rare French 18 carat gold and cloisonné enamel minute repeating astronomic pocket watch with moon phases, circa 1892. Accompanied by a Breguet certificate. Sold to Mir et Coltereau on August 24, 1892. Presented by Sultan Abdul-Hamid II of Turkey to Prince de Radolin, German Ambassador to Constantinople in 1894.
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The bezel and case back are finely decorated with foiled red, green, blue, gold, pink and white cloisonné enamel in a geometric pattern with stylized flowers and leaves, the bezel is decorated to match, the interior of the back with engraved dedication, band, stem and bow decorated with opaque cream enamel and red and green leaves. White enamel dial with gold painted shadowed Dauphine numerals, outer gold painted minute track, subsidiary seconds at 6, moon phase aperture at 12 and gold Louis XV hands. Frosted gilt movement, 29 jewels, counterpoised straight line lever escapement, cut bi metallic compensation balance, blued steel Breguet balance spring, index regulator, repeating on gongs activated by a slide on the band. Dial signed and numbered.
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Diameter: 46 mm
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Signed: Breguet Paris
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Abdul-Hamid II, 1842-1918, Ottoman sultan (1876-1909).
His uncle, Abdul-Aziz, was deposed from the throne of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) in 1876 by the Young Turks, a liberal reformist group. Abd al-Hamid’s brother, Murad V, succeeded as sultan but was shortly declared insane, and Abd al-Hamid ascended the throne. For his part in the Armenian massacres of 1894-96, he was called the Great Assassin and the Red Sultan. Ruling as an absolute monarch, Abd al-Hamid lived in virtual seclusion. In 1908 the Young Turks, who had penetrated the armed services, revolted and forced the sultan to adhere to the constitution of 1876. He was deposed (1909) when he tried to plot a counterrevolution and was succeeded by his brother, Muhammad V. Hugo Julius Raoul Eduard Graf von Radolinski, Prince von Radolin (b. 1841 in Posen, d. 1917 in Jarotschin) was a diplomat, private secretary to the Kaiser, and German ambassador to several countries, including France, Russia, and Constantinople. He married Lucy Catherine Wakefield in 1863. During the late 19th century, a rapprochement occurred between Germany and the Ottoman Empire, following the resounding defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the Russo-Turkish War, 1877-78. Sultan Hamid’s government viewed united Germany as a possible friend of the empire. German officers were employed to oversee the reorganization of the Ottoman army, and German government officials were brought in to reorganize the Ottoman government’s finances. It was no doubt as a token of his government’s friendship toward Germany that Sultan Abdul Hamid II gave the present watch to Prince von Radolin, at the time Germany’s ambassador to Constantinople. The inscription in the interior of the case back reads II RAD. Maji 787. Sultan Abdul Hamid II au Prince H. de Radolin, Ambassadeur d’Allemagne, Constantinople, 1894. The present watch has a beautifully executed and very high-quality cloisonne enamel case which is very unusual to find on a Breguet watch. The combination of the cloisonne case, the minute repeating, the moon phases and the specially “shadowed” gold-painted numerals put this watch in the top category of the House of Breguet’s output in the late 19th Century. The style of the case shows that it was specifically intended for the eastern market.
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Cloisonné is an ancient technique for decorating metalwork objects with coloured material held in place or separated by metal strips or wire, normally of gold. In recent centuries, vitreous enamel has been used, but inlays of cut gemstones, glass and other materials were also used during older periods, indeed, cloisonné enamel very probably began as an easier imitation of cloisonné work using gems. The resulting objects can also be called cloisonné.