Pocket Watches · Watch
Watch by Charles Henou Embden, 1640–1800
- Maker / attribution
- Charles Henou Embden (Horloger)
- Date
- 1640–1660 (case and dial); 1785–1800 (movement)
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- Unrecorded in source
- Object type
- Watch
- Materials / technique
- gold
- Dimensions
- height 9,2 cm; diameter 6,8 cm; thickness 2,2 cm; diameter 6,5 cm
- Holding institution
- Musée du Louvre, Paris
- Accession / object no.
- OA 8317
- Credit line
- Musée du Louvre, Département des Objets d'art du Moyen Age, de la Renaissance et des temps modernes
- Catalogue title (original)
- Montre ronde (French)
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Record summary
Held and catalogued by Musée du Louvre, Paris (object number OA 8317), this is a watch by Charles Henou Embden, dated 1640–1660 (case and dial); 1785–1800 (movement). 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. Recorded dimensions: height 9,2 cm; diameter 6,8 cm; thickness 2,2 cm; diameter 6,5 cm. The record is illustrated with 6 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
Catalogue description — Musée du Louvre (French)
Fond du boîtier orné d'une scène représentant Le Jugement de Pâris : celui-ci désigne Aphrodite comme la plus belle des trois déesses, au-dessus d'elle, un amour tenant une couronne et une palme. Intérieur du fond contre-émaillé d'un paysage où apparaissent un joueur de flûte et une jeune femme gardant des moutons. Couvercle figurant L'Enlèvement d'Hélène : au centre se trouve Pâris la conduisant par le bras, accompagnée de ses suivants, vers un navire. Intérieur du couvercle peint d'un paysage boisé où deux personnages conversent. Pourtour décoré de six médaillons ovales contenant des paysages marins. Cadran à chiffres romains, décoré au centre d'un paysage avec des ruines, où au premier plan une bergère se laisse enlacer par un galant. Mouvement muni d'un échappement à roue de rencontre ; balancier doté d'un ressort-spiral. Coq circulaire à un pied, de style anglais, gravé et repercé de rinceaux où se trouvent deux oiseaux.
Shown in the original language of the source catalogue. An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.
Dating and period as catalogued (French)
Epoque / période : Louis XIV (1643-1715) (Occident->époque moderne = Ancien Régime->dynastie des Bourbons) ; Louis XVI (1774-1792) (Occident->époque moderne = Ancien Régime->dynastie des Bourbons) · · Date de création/fabrication : 1640 - 1660 (boîtier et cadran) et 1785 - 1800 (mouvement)
Shown in the original language of the source catalogue. An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.
Materials and techniques as catalogued (French)
Matériau : or · Technique : émaillé = émaillage = émail = émaux (techniques métal)
Shown in the original language of the source catalogue. An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.
Inscriptions & marks
Signature : ; mouvement signé : Charles / Henou Embden
Provenance
collection Jules-René Olivier (1855-1933), horloger-collectionneur ; legs de sa sœur Marie-Julie Olivier, n° 652 ; comité du 24 janvier 1935 ; conseil du 5 février 1935 ; décret du 4 août 1935
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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