Fine Swiss gold plated musical erotic automaton watch Circa 1980

Gold plated lever with center seconds and alarm
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A fine Swiss gold plated open faced musical erotic automaton watch by Reuge, Sainte Croix, circa 1980. A keyless lever pocket watch with automaton, alarm and center seconds, so called The Gondoliers. A polished bezel, reeded band, the hinged back cover engraved with a musical trophy against a sunray background, and a button to set the alarm at 11 o’clock. Solid cuvette with an aperture for winding the music and a button for activating the music.
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Small white enamel dial with painted Arabic hours, outer minute divisions, a polychrome painted view of the Venetian lagoon with an applied gilt metal automaton of a lady being serenaded in a gondola, the musician moving his arm, the gondolier rowing the gondola, a moving boat in the background, gilt metal flowers and foliage in the foreground, gilt Breguet hands. Matte gilt movement, 17 jewels, straight-line lever escapement, monometallic balance, flat balance spring, shock absorber, index regulator. The dial, cuvette and movement are signed.
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Diameter: 57 mm
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Signed: Charles Reuge Sainte Croix
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Accompanied by the original fitted box, instruction booklet, and gilded metal winding-key (lyra-shaped).
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The origins of Reuge date back to 1865, when Charles Reuge set up a musical pocket watch shop in the Swiss Mountain town of Sainte Croix. By 1886, his son, Albert Reuge, opened a music box workshop, and the company experienced success, and their mechanisms being found in a range of products such as powder compacts and cigarette lighters. By 1930, Guido Reuge had built the Reuge factory, and he guided the company for over 60 years. Today, Reuge retains its historical elements, still producing singing birds but moving with the times; their music boxes today come in traditional but also modern and innovative designs.