Pocket Watches · Pocket watch
Pearl Set Gold and Enamel Pendant Watch, c. 1820
- Maker / attribution
- Unrecorded in source
- Date
- c. 1820
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- Unrecorded in source
- Object type
- Pocket watch
- Materials / technique
- gold, enamel, pearl
- Dealer
- WatchMuseum.org shop
- Stock no.
- Product 4609
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, WatchMuseum.org shop (product 4609)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Pearl Set Gold and Enamel Pendant Watch (English)
View the source record (dealer listing) ↗ (opens another website in a new tab)Suggest a correction
Record summary
Catalogued by WatchMuseum.org shop (stock number Product 4609), this is a pocket watch, dated c. 1820. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Pocket Watches collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: gold, enamel, pearl. The record is illustrated with 3 photographs.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
Dealer description — WatchMuseum.org shop
Step back in time to the early 19th century with this exquisite PEARL SET GOLD AND ENAMEL PENDANT WATCH, a Swiss masterpiece from circa 1820 that epitomizes the elegance and craftsmanship of its era. This small yet stunning timepiece is housed in a luxurious gold and enamel full hunter case, showcasing a full plate gilt fusee movement with a meticulously pierced and engraved bridge cock, complemented by a polished steel endstone. The watch’s mechanical heart features a plain three-arm gilt balance and a blue steel spiral hairspring, while the silver regulator dial is graced with a sophisticated blue steel indicator. The white enamel dial, adorned with Arabic numerals and refined gold Breguet hands, adds to the watch’s timeless appeal. The gold full hunter case is a true marvel, with bezels set with two rows of split pearls and engine-turned centers on both the front and back covers, framed by delicate light blue champlevé enamel. Opening the front cover is a simple yet satisfying act, achieved by pressing the button in the pendant, revealing the intricate beauty within. Signed by its Swiss makers and measuring a compact 34 mm in diameter, this pendant watch is not just a timekeeper but a piece of history and art, perfect for collectors and connoisseurs alike. This is a small early 19th Century Swiss verge watch housed in a stunning gold and enamel full hunter case. The watch features a full plate gilt fusee movement with a beautifully pierced and engraved bridge cock, adorned with a polished steel endstone. Its plain three arm gilt balance is paired with a blue steel spiral hairspring. The silver regulator dial boasts a sophisticated blue steel indicator. The watch is wound through the white enamel dial, which features Arabic numerals and elegant gold Breguet hands. The gold full hunter case is a true standout, with bezels set with two rows of split pearls. The front and back covers boast engine turned centers, surrounded by delicate light blue champleve enamel. To open the front cover, simply depress the button in the pendant. Signed Swiss Circa 1820 Diameter 34 mm
Historical context
Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
Harrison solves longitude; Mudge invents the lever; Breguet's Paris workshop defines the modern watch.
From 1750 to 1850 the watch became a precision instrument. Mudge's lever escapement, the cylinder escapement, Lépine's thin bar calibre, Breguet's innovations (overcoil, tourbillon, perpétuelle) and the pocket chronometer of Arnold and Earnshaw all date from this period, while verge watches remained common in cheaper production.
Read the period in the timelineMore pocket watches from this periodEarlier: Early Modern Horology
Atlas type guide
Early spring-driven watches
Portable spring-driven timepieces appeared in southern Germany, France and Italy in the early sixteenth century; Peter Henlein of Nuremberg is traditionally credited, although the historical record is complex. These early watches were worn as pendants or carried, had iron or brass movements with a verge escapement and a foliot or small balance, and used a stackfreed or fusee to equalise spring force. They indicated hours only and were notoriously inaccurate.
From the later sixteenth century watches were made in Blois, Paris, Geneva, London and Augsburg in oval, octagonal, cruciform, skull and other 'form' cases of rock crystal, gilt brass, silver and enamel. They were jewellery and status objects as much as timekeepers.
What to look for
- A single hour hand and often a touch-pin hour ring for feeling the time.
- Stackfreed (a cam and spring) instead of a fusee on German watches.
- Pierced and engraved cocks over the balance, fine gut fusee lines.
- Rock-crystal, enamelled or engraved form cases.
Dating clues
- Drum-shaped German watches: c. 1530–1580.
- Oval and form watches: c. 1580–1650.
- Before c. 1675 there is no balance spring; watches can vary by many minutes a day.
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
Read next:FoliotThe Melanchthon watch
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