Swiss rare Hiding Jacks automaton repeating watch Circa 1810

Gold open faced pocket watch by Le Roy, retailed by Bordin.
–
A Swiss, very fine, rare, gold Hiding Jacks automaton quarter repeating watch, circa 1810. The case is made of engine-turned 18K rose gold and features a gold bolt at 11 o’clock to block repeating activation. The dial is designed as a theatre scene, with a gold Father Time in the centre, holding two scythes. When the pendant is pressed, two cherubs suddenly appear and strike the hours and quarters on the scythes. The eccentric chapter ring has white enamel hour cartouches with Breguet numerals. The movement is 53 mm in size, fire gilt full plate, with a fusee and chain mechanism, verge escapement, and a silver regulating plate. It has an all-or-nothing LeRoy-type repeating system with a striking speed-controlling mechanism and a sector scale behind a pierced and engraved continental cock. The striking is done on gongs by depressing the pendant. The movement is signed, and the retailer signs the cuvette. The case is stamped with the initials FLP, which represents the case maker in LeLocle, often found in Philippe DuBois registers. The automaton’s design, where cherubs hide after striking the time, in the form of a theatre scene, is quite rare.
–
Diameter: 58 mm
–
Signed: Le Roy and Bordin
–
The famous Sandoz Collection housed in Le Locle Museum has a practically identical watch, retailed by Frères Esquivillon. The automaton Cherub Jacks on the dial refers to the Medieval manner of public time announcing, done by real people, striking every hour on a bell at the top of the city tower. Later, life-size robots, called Jaquemarts, amused the public by striking bells in large public clocks, the oldest of which (1383) is in the tower of Dijon along with robot Jacquemart, his wife Jacqueline, son Jacquelinet, and a daughter Jacquelinette.