Swiss silver-gilt verge pocket watch with alarm Circa 1840

Silver-gilt verge pocket watch with alarm
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A Swiss verge alarm in a silver-gilt open face case, circa 1840. Full plate gilt keywind fusee movement, plain cock with garnet endstone, blue steel regulator. Plain three arm gilt balance with blue steel spiral hairspring. Alarm train with small, partly visible blue steel mainspring, single polished steel hammer striking a bell. White enamel dial with subsidiaries for seconds and alarm set, Roman numerals, and blue steel hands. Engine turned silver gilt open face case with ribbed middle, flat crown to allow the alarm to be set. Opening the back cover reveals the engraved and pierced inner dome to allow the bell to be heard clearly.
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Diameter: 53 mm
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Signed: Oe Quartier Locle Suisse
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An unusual design for an alarm watch of the period. The one-piece dial made without the sinks for the subsidiaries which have been turned after it was fired. Olivier Quartier, Le Locle and Paris, 1776 – 1852 – awarded prizes for wheel cutting machine and balance springs.