Swiss gold watch with rare Debaufré escapement Circa 1800

Gentleman’s pocket watch with open face by Du Bois & Fils
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An absolute rare, large Swiss pocket watch with double wheel Debaufré escapement with a pirouette, jumping central second, and pendulum, circa 1800, made for the Chinese market.
Polished 18K gold case with work number PG 129 under the dial. Signed enamel dial with Arabic numerals on an eccentric hour indication, decentralized time display, jumping central seconds, aperture for the mock pendulum, and Breguet hands. Extremely rare movement with double wheel Debaufré escapement with pirouette, exceptionally large balance wheel with diamond capstone, plate signed.
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Diameter: 61 mm
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Weight: 116 g
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Signed: Du Bois & Fils Le Locle
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Today only a few of these watches are known.
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Du Bois built these watches in 2 versions, with pirouette and without pirouette. All of these watches are rare, but the ones with pirouette are the rarest. The sister watch with the movement number PG 127 was sold in 2012 / auction 86 at Dr Crott and will be auctioned for approx. € 30,000 and will be presented in detail by “Pieces of Time” in London.
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Du Bois & Fils
In 1785 Philippe Du Bois and his sons founded the “Du Bois & Fils 1785” watch company at the family seat in Le Locle. Du Bois had already established extensive business connections all over Europe and America as a cloth merchant, which made things much easier for the start-up watch company. During the 19th century, Du Bois & Fils opened branches in Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and the United States and business boomed. Due to its proximity to the trade fairs, the German Frankfurt branch was particularly important.
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The Debaufré Escapement,
Invented by P. Debaufré in 1704, this escapement is distinguished by having two escape wheels that are mounted on the same arbour. The escape wheels are staggered. They interact with a semi-circular, wedge-shaped pallet on the balance staff with chamfered edges. The wheels, which alternately rest on the flat underside or escape past it, impart the impulse to the balance.
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Mock pendulum
A small non-functional bob or metal disc attached to a clock’s pallets or watch has a verge escapement, seen through a slit in the dial (also called false bob).