Swiss 18K gold watch made for the Chinese market Circa 1820

Gold cylinder watch with centre seconds
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An extremely fine and very rare Swiss 18 Carat gold, enamel and pearl set open faced quarter repeating centre seconds pocket watch made for the Chinese market, circa 1820. Allegory of Summer by Piguet & Meylan. The Empire case by Frères Oltramare, bezels, pendant and bow decorated with pink champlevé enamel, set with split pearls in a scalloped pattern, the band, stem and bow are decorated with flower and geometric patterns in blue, pale green, red and black enamel, the translucent imperial blue enamel engine turned back cover with a central painted on enamel portrait of a young lady representing summer wearing a cream scarf and with roses and pearls in her hair attributable to Jean Abraham Lissignol.
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Hinged gold cuvette decorated with flowers and foliage in imperial blue champlevé enamel. White enamel dial, radial Roman hours, outer minute and seconds track with Arabic 15 second numerals and blued steel serpentine hands. A frosted gilt full plate movement profusely chased and engraved with flowers and foliage to the Chinese taste, going barrel, cylinder escapement, three arm gold balance with polished steel endplate, blued steel flat balance spring, index regulator, repeating on gongs activated by depressing the pendant. Case punched with maker’s mark FO for Frères Oltramare, the movement punched PM on the dial plate for Piguet & Meylan.
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Diameter: 56 mm
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Signed: Piguet & Meylan Genève 
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A watch from this series, ‘Winter’, is in the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva and a similar watch from the same series is in the Rolex Wilsdorf Collection (Montres et Émaux de 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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Frères Oltramare. Originally from Genova, Italy, the family settled in Geneva, Switzerland 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.
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Jean Abraham Lissignol was a Swiss painter, revolutionary and one of the finest enamellers of his time. He was born in Geneva on May 7th, 1749 and died in Plainpalais on June 28th, 1819. He was the pupil of Jean-Marc Roux and later became his partner. Specialized in snuff boxes and watch cases, he worked for Jaquet-Droz & Leschot, the Rochat Brothers and John Rich.