Rare Swiss silver pocket thermometer in Houriet’s manner Circa 1830

Silver pocket thermometer
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A very fine and extremely rare pocket thermometer in the manner of Houriet, attributed to Courvoisier & Co in Le Locle, Switzerland, circa 1830. The numbered, engine turned silver open faced case of this piece is in fantastic condition. The perfectly preserved white enamel dial shows exceptional registered temperatures including the corresponding dates from 1709 to 1788 and has steel hands.
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Diameter: 59 mm
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Weight: 69 g
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Signed: No name
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Only three of these pocket thermometers are known. All identical and with the same dial. An example is in a Parisian private collection and the more famous, signed piece, auctioned in Geneva for CHF 12.650 was formerly part of the Theodor Beyer collection.
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About the history of this museum quality thermometer:
Louis Courvoisier‘s second wife was Julie Houriet, a niece of Jacques Frédéric Houriet, the inventor of the bimetallic thermometer. The relationship between Courvoisier and Houriet was not only limited to family relations as the present thermometer proves. It is based on Houriet’s design with slight differences in the micrometric setting mechanism and the dial, which has unusual indications that give the appearance of being the years of recorded temperatures.
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Robert & Courvoisier were clock and watchmakers from La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. The firm was founded in 1795 as a successor to J. Robert & Fils, Courvoisier. In 1770, the firm was originally established by Josué Robert (1691–1771). After Robert’s death, a year after the company was founded, the firm was renamed Josué Robert & Fils and was led by his son Louis Benjamin Robert (1732–1781). They mainly produced large clockworks, but as Benjamin’s son-in-law, Louis Courvoisier became a companion, pocket watches were put into production. When Louis Benjamin died, Louis Courvoisier became the manager of the firm. From 1787 to 1795, the firm was called J. Robert & Fils, Courvoisier. From 1795 to 1805, it was renamed Robert & Courvoisier. Since 1805, the firm’s name was Robert, Courvoisier & Cie with Philip Grandjean as a business partner. In 1852, it became Courvoisier Frères. The firm continued under the direction of various members of the Courvoisier family until the 1930s. Along with the Jaquet-Droz firm, they were the most important makers of musical clocks and around the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, their portable officers’ watches were famous.