Pocket Watches · Pocket watch
Unsigned pocket watch, circa 1640-1660 and circa 1800
- Maker / attribution
- Unrecorded in source
- Date
- c. 1640-1660 and c. 1800
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- Unrecorded in source
- Object type
- Pocket watch
- Materials / technique
- gold
- Auction house
- Antiquorum auction archive, Geneva
- Lot
- Lot 358-1
- Credit line
- Auction lot record: LOT 1, Monaco Auction
- Catalogue title (original)
- UNSIGNED THREE CABINET MINIATURES; ENAMEL (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Antiquorum auction archive, Geneva (lot Lot 358-1), this is a pocket watch, dated c. 1640-1660 and c. 1800. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Pocket Watches collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: gold. The record is illustrated with 2 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
Antiquorum catalogue description
A collection of three cabinet miniatures, including:Enamel, round-shaped, cabinet miniature (circa 1640-1660); the polychrome painting on enamel on gold, by an unidentified Blésois workshop or Parisian workshop, showing a powerful woman (reminiscent of Anne of Austria, Queen of France) looking into an octagonal mirror with an ebony frame, surrounded by three angels of Love (this plate is a “basinne”-shaped watch case-back; the inner scene showing this lady with her dogs).&Enamel, round-shaped, cabinet miniature (circa 1640-1660); the polychrome painting on enamel on gold (probably), by an unidentified Blésois workshop or Parisian workshop, showing Venus, goddess of the hunt, surrounded by two maids and her dog (this plate is a “basinne”-shaped watch case-back, now presented in a gold frame; the inner scene showing Venus)&Enamel, horizontal oval-shaped, cabinet miniature; the polychrome painting on enamel on copper, by an unidentified Genevan workshop (circa 1800), showing Hera, Athena and Aphrodite all claiming the Golden Apple; the conflict between the goddesses leads to the episode of the Judgement of Paris which finally grants the apple to Aphrodite (who promised him the love of the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen), an act which will result in the outbreak of the Trojan War. This episode is at the origin of the expression “apple of discord” (the “GoldenApple of Discord”).
Lot specifications (Antiquorum)
Material: enamel on gold and on copper; Dimensions: Ø 41 mm. / Ø 53 mm. (including the frame) / 64 x 76 mm.; Weight: 44.4 gr. (approx.)
Historical context
Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
Huygens' pendulum and balance spring transform accuracy; English makers develop the anchor and deadbeat escapements.
The balance spring (c. 1675) improved watches dramatically and introduced the minute hand. English pair-cased verge watches with pierced balance cocks and French oignons were typical; enamel painting at Blois and Geneva, and the repeating watch (1680s), made watches objects of great refinement.
Read the period in the timelineMore pocket watches from this periodEarlier: Renaissance Horology
Atlas type guide
Pocket watches
The pocket watch was the dominant personal timekeeper from the late seventeenth century until the First World War. Its development tracks the history of the escapement: verge watches with fusees until the late eighteenth century; Thomas Mudge's lever escapement (c. 1755) and the cylinder escapement popularised by George Graham and later by Swiss makers; and the Swiss and English lever watches of the nineteenth century. Lépine's bar-bridge calibre and keyless winding made watches thinner and easier to use.
Industrialisation transformed the trade: American factories such as Waltham (from 1850) and Elgin produced interchangeable parts by machine, and Swiss makers responded with their own mechanisation after the 1876 Philadelphia Exhibition. By 1900 a reliable watch was affordable to millions; the finest makers continued to produce complications and precision watches.
What to look for
- The escapement: verge (crown wheel), cylinder, duplex, English or Swiss lever.
- Key winding (a square arbor in dial or back) or keyless crown winding.
- Signatures and serial numbers on the movement, dial and inside case back.
- Hallmarks, case maker's marks and gold or silver standards stamped in the case.
- Dial material: enamel, silver, gold, later printed metal.
Dating clues
- Verge watches dominate before c. 1800; cylinder watches c. 1770–1900; lever watches after c. 1820.
- Keyless winding: increasingly common after c. 1860.
- Manufacturer serial number lists exist for Waltham, Elgin, Longines, Omega, Patek Philippe and others.
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:Verge escapementDetached lever escapementFuseeIdentification Centre
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