Swiss verge watch in a gold and enamel case Circa 1765-1770

Gold and enamel verge pocket watch
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A gold pair cased enamel and gemstone pocket watch, Genèva has been celebrated since the second half of the seventeenth century for its enamelled watches by Jean Fazy 1765-1770.
Watch with vari coloured gold case, enamelled and set with diamonds, with separate outer case. Dial and the movement are signed, Fazy is well known for his pair cased watches (watches with an additional outer case) decorated with enamel and gemstones. Pair cases were standard on London made watches for much of the eighteenth century and the use of them here suggests the influence of London watchmaking which had a high reputation in Europe in the eighteenth century.

The scene on this case derives from an engraving by H. S. Thomassin published in 1723 after a painting by Charles de la Fosse of Veturia and Volumnia before Coriolanus. The composition has been simplified so that only the wife of Coriolanus and one of his children are present, rather than his wife and mother and two children as depicted by Charles de la Fosse.
The scene is here given a neo classical setting by being painted within a circle bordered on both back and bezel by tightly bound wreaths of laurel. There is slightly more freedom to the enamelled sprays of foliage immediately outside the scene, but they remain symmetrical. However, the hands of the watch, particularly the minute hand which has a C curve and is asymmetrical and the asymmetrical scrolls on the bridgecock of the movement, show that the watch is in transition from the rococo style to the neo classical. By the standards of Paris gold boxes, neo classicism was dominant by 1763, so it seems likely that this watch was probably made during the 1760s.
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Signed:  Jean Fazy  Genève