Swiss gold and enamel diamond set lady’s watch Circa 1640

Gold, enamel and diamond set one handed verge watch
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An exceptionally fine and equally rare Swiss gold, enamel and diamond set pre balance spring lady’s pendant watch with a single hand and integrated ribbon jewel, circa 1640. Gilt brass full plate movement, early type divided Egyptian pillars, fusee with a gut line, short four wheel train, steel two arm balance without spring, small foliate pierced cock secured by a screw, worm and wheel regulator with blued steel foliate brackets and silver regulation dial.
Case with a curved band, the body overlaid with deep green basse taille enamel and an outer border of chased and engraved gold flowers and leaves in relief, the center with a chased and engraved flower rosette, light blue counter enamel, cut hinged bezel set with 32 irregular cut diamonds in rub over settings, ribbon form pendant mount set with 42 irregular cut diamonds in rub over settings, the reverse enamelled to match the case and with a white and black pendant loop and small additional ribbons enamelled ronde bosse.
Gold dial with white enamel annular chapter ring with small radial Roman numerals and half hour markers, the centre with concentric rings of basse taille enamel to match the case, intersected by a chased and engraved gold ring with stiff leaf decoration, a single steel hand.
Movement signed.
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Diameter: 33 mm
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Signed: Abram Dufours Genèva
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This exceptionally rare and beautiful watch is the only known early example of a watch with an integrated diamond jewel made in Geneva, the ribbon cresting is a classic design from the 17th century that can be found in surviving jewellery in museum collections throughout the world. An almost exactly similar emerald set pendant with ribbons and the central rosette is in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. A noticeable feature of watch dials made during the 17th century is that the numerals on dials made in the first half of the 17th century had smaller numerals, as time progressed, the numerals increased in size. This combined with the type of movement and the shape of the case means that the present watch can be dated to circa 1640. Geneva has, since the earliest times been not only a watchmaking centre but famous for enamelling. Designs for jewelled and enamelled pieces would have been inspired by the fashions of the European courts.
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Abram (Abraham) Dufours apprenticed to Antoine Arlaud in 1629 and became master horloger by 1636. He worked with Jean Dunant in 1649 and Jonas Robert and Bernard Dominice in 1652.
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Basse taille is an enamelling technique in which the artist creates a low-relief pattern in metal, usually silver or gold, by engraving or chasing. The entire pattern is created in such a way that its highest point is lower than the surrounding metal. A translucent enamel is then applied to the metal, allowing light to reflect from the relief and creating an artistic effect. It was used in the late Middle Ages, and then again in the 17th century.
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Ronde bosse, en ronde bosse (in the round) or encrusted enamel is an enamelling technique developed in France in the late 14th century that produces small three dimensional figures, or reliefs, largely or entirely covered in enamel. The new method involved the partial concealment of the underlying gold, or sometimes silver, from which the figure was formed. It differs from older techniques which all produced only enamel on a flat or curved surface, and mostly, like champlevé, normally used non precious metals, such as copper, which were gilded to look like gold. In the technique of enamel en ronde bosse, small figures are created in gold or silver and their surfaces are lightly roughened to provide a key for the enamel, which is applied as a paste and fired. In some places, the framework may only be wire.