Swiss gold repeater made for the Chinese market Circa 1815

Gold, enamel and pearl set open faced cylinder watch
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An extremely fine and very rare Swiss 18 Carat gold, enamel and pearl-set open faced quarter repeating cylinder pocket watch made for the Chinese market, circa 1815. La Bonne Nourrice by Piguet & Meylan. An Empire case by Frères Oltramare, both bezels, pendant and bow set with split pearls, the band with a blue enamel trellis pattern and set with seed pearls, the back cover set with a very finely painted on enamel panel depicting a mother with three children in a landscape. Hinged gold cuvette decorated with flowers and foliage in imperial blue champlevé enamel.
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White enamel dial by D. Massagli, Lucca, Italy, eccentric meantime dial at 12 o’clock with radial Roman numerals, outer minute track, subsidiary seconds at 6 and blued steel serpentine hands. A frosted gilt movement, standing barrel, jewelled cylinder escapement, three-arm gold balance, blued steel flat balance spring, index regulator, repeating on gongs activated by depressing the pendant. Dial signed D. Massagli Lucca on the reverse, the case punched with maker’s mark FO for Frères Oltramare and the movement punched with PM for Piguet & Meylan.
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Diameter: 55 mm
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Signed: Piguet & Meylan Genève
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Piguet & Meylan both originally from the village of Le Chenit in the Vallée de Joux, Isaac Daniel Piguet (1775-1841) and Philippe Samuel Meylan (1772- 1845) came to Geneva as young men and formed a partnership that lasted from 1811 to 1828. The company specialized in elaborate and beautifully decorated musical watches, including skeleton and automaton watches, and mechanical animals. The firm was established at 45, Rue Jean Jacques Rousseau in Geneva. After their association came to an end, both Piguet and Meylan continued for some time to work with their sons.
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Isaac Daniel Piguet was born in 1775 in Le Chenit in the Vallée de Joux, he was the son of Pierre Moïse Piguet and Elisabeth Nicole. He married Jeanne Françoise Capt around 1795, and around 1800 settled in Geneva with his family. Isaac Daniel Piguet went into business with Henry Daniel Capt, his brother-in-law, on February 10, 1802. The association between Piguet & Meylan came to an end in 1828. Piguet and his son David Auguste established a new company, Piguet père & fils, located at No 69, Rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Isaac Daniel Piguet died in Geneva, on January 20, 1841, at the age of 66.
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Philippe Samuel Meylan was born February 15, 1772, in Bas-du-Chenet, and died in Geneva in 1845. At 20 years of age, he came to Geneva where he was a master worker for the Godemar Frères. He met another watchmaker from his native region, Isaac Piguet, and they entered into a partnership, founding the Piguet & Meylan firm, which was to last from 1811 to 1828. It specialized in minute creatures, musical watches, skeleton and automaton watches. Meylan is also credited with the invention of the Bagnolet calibre. After Piguet & Meylan was dissolved, -Philippe Samuel Meylan continued to work with his sons François and David Auguste.
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Frères Oltramare. Originally from Genova, the family settled in Geneva in the 17th century. Branches of the family were engaged in the watchmaking trade by the second half of the 18th century. The watchmaker Pierre Oltramare (1753-1827) had apprenticed under the ‘maître horloger’ Jean Pattey of Passiery in 1768. The mark of F.O. is that of Louis-David-Benjamin and Jean Hughes. Both trained as ‘monteur de boites en or’, makers of gold watch cases. They worked together in an informal association and later entered a maker’s mark as the Frères Oltramare between 1810 and 1811. When Geneva was liberated from French occupation they re registered the same mark on November 4th, 1815, their workshop was at Rue de Coutance 82. The two brothers ended their partnership on March 31, 1826.