Swiss gold minute repeating automaton watch Circa 1890

Gold minute repeating automaton lever watch by C. Barbezat-Baillot
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A fine and rare, large, minute-repeating, painted enamel pocket watch in a 14-carat gold hunting case, circa 1890. This rare watch has automaton jacks with three actions and a very unusual feature being the cherub to the left of the dial that rises and falls upon activation of the repeating.
Polished 14-carat gold case with push-button for minute repeating in the band. Center dial, Arabic numerals, subsidiary seconds, translucent blue enamel background, the multicolour cherub musicians for striking action. Gilt lever movement, 35 jewels, bimetallic compensation balance, two hammers repeating on gongs, and wolf’s tooth winding.
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Diameter: 57 mm
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Signed: C. Barbezat-Baillot
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The watch presented here is of an extremely rare type. In fact, watches with quarter- and minute-repeater, with Jacquemarts (jacks), are not common at the end of the 19th century. This model is even rarer because it is fitted with an automaton – a cherub – which goes up and down along a column when the striking is activated. The idea was not new then; at the beginning of the 19th century, a few rare pieces were striking on request on the quarters where two little cherubs go up and down along two columns when the strike device is activated. Dating from the very end of the 19th century, only a few rare pieces are listed today, with a cherub going up and down along a column on the left of the dial.