Swiss rock crystal and silver cross shaped watch Circa 1620

Silver cross shaped watch by Anthoine Arlaud
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A very rare Swiss rock crystal and silver cross shaped watch, circa 1620.
Hinged gilt brass full plate verge movement, fusee and gut line for the going train, elongated cock asymmetrically pierced and engraved, pillars, and signed: Anthoine / Arlaud. Silver, partly gilded dial, Roman numerals, engraved view of a village, single brass hand. Rock crystal, gilded case with gilded silver mounts, and engraved scene of the Risen Christ.
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Dimensions: 48 x 32 mm
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Signed: Anthoine Arlaud
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 The form of this watch and the scene of the Risen Christ, with the emblems of the Passion, are surely reminders of the brevity of life on earth and the importance of the soul’s salvation.
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Anthoine Arlaud, Swiss watchmaker of French origin–
Anthoine (Antoine) Arlaud was born around 1590 in Maringues, Puy-de-Dôme, Auvergne (France). He was the son of Victor Arlaud (1565-1612). He is regarded as the founder of a watchmaking dynasty that lasted into the early 19th century. The French Huguenot fled to Geneva in 1617. He is known for Geneva cross watches and high quality astronomical pocket watches. As early as 1632, Arlaud travelled to Constantinople via Marseille with various clocks, including clocks with moon displays and clocks with striking mechanisms. Abraham married Jeanne Dué on June 4, 1615, and Julian (June 14, 1615) in Geneva. From this marriage, ten children were born.
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Arlaud, a Huguenot refugee from the French Auvergne, was the first in a dynasty of Geneva watchmakers. He became a burgher in Geneva in 1617.
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Four of his six sons, Etienne, Jean, Abraham and Henri, learned the watchmaking trade. Daughter Sara Arlaud married watchmaker Robert Le Grand. The son Jean was one of the first Swiss watchmakers to produce special pocket watches for the Turkish market around 1660.
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His pupils included Isaac Defino and François Dentand ( 1617 ), Isaac Vullieme, Hugues Bourgaud ( 1618 ), Pierre Borgaud ( 1621 ), Anthoine Dagoneau ( 1626 ), Abraham Dufour ( 1629 ), Marc Lagisse (1) ( 1631 ), Aymé Le Damoiselle ( 1634 ) and Daniel Dornieu (Dorien) ( 1641 ).
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Anthoine Arlaud’s date of death is not yet known; one of the genealogy sources mentions 1633 as the year of his death.