Pocket Watches · Watch
Watch by Jacques Sermand, Switzerland, 1625–1650
- Maker / attribution
- Jacques Sermand (Horloger)
- Date
- 1625–1650
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- Switzerland
- Place
- Genève, Switzerland
- Object type
- Watch
- Materials / technique
- silver, brass, rock crystal
- Dimensions
- height 5 cm; width 3,5 cm; thickness 2,3 cm
- Holding institution
- Musée du Louvre, Paris
- Accession / object no.
- OA 7062
- Credit line
- Musée du Louvre, Département des Objets d'art du Moyen Age, de la Renaissance et des temps modernes
- Catalogue title (original)
- Montre astronomique (French)
View the source record ↗ (opens another website in a new tab)Suggest a correction
Record summary
Held and catalogued by Musée du Louvre, Paris (object number OA 7062), this is a watch by Jacques Sermand, made in Genève, Switzerland, dated 1625–1650. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Pocket Watches collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: silver, brass, rock crystal. Recorded dimensions: height 5 cm; width 3,5 cm; thickness 2,3 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)
Montre astronomique ; boîtier ovale de forme quadrilobée, fond souligné d'une armature gravée de stries. Fond orné de quatre compartiments figurant les vertus cardinales : Justice, Tempérance, Force, Prudence ; lunette contenant un cristal de roche taillé en forme de fleur à quatre pétales. Pendant en forme de boule. Plaque du cadran ornée de deux paysages représentant des bourgs, rinceaux et fleurettes ; portant l'indication des quantièmes, de l'âge et des phases de la lune, des jours de la semaine avec leur signe planétaire, des heures en chiffres romains. Trois aiguilles. Echappement à roue de rencontre, fusée avec corde à boyau ; vis-sans-fin, coq à un pied ajouré et gravé de rinceaux à fleurs de fraisier.
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 An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.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 XIII (1610-1643) (Occident->époque moderne = Ancien Régime->dynastie des Bourbons) · · Date de création/fabrication : 1625 - 1650
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 : argent · Matériau : laiton · Matériau : cristal de roche
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 : Jacques Sermand
Provenance
Collection Frédéric Spitzer (1815-1890), vente à Paris 33 rue de Villejust, 17 avril-16 juin 1893, n° 2724 pl. LXII ; collection Paul Garnier (1834-1916), à Paris. Don Paul Garnier, en 1916.
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 escapementIdentification Centre
Related records
Pocket Watches · 1625–1650
Watch by Jacques Sermand, Switzerland, 1625–1650
Musée du Louvre, Paris
Pocket Watches · 1630
Pocket watch by A. Senebier, Switzerland, 1630
Science Museum Group, London
Pocket Watches · 1635-50
Silver, gilt brass and rock crystal watch in the form of a tulip, movement signed 'Senebier', Geneva, Switzerland, 1635-50
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Pocket Watches · 1640-50
Gilt brass and crystal watch with an engraved silver dial, movement signed 'Charles Bobinet', Switzerland (Geneva), 1640-50
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Pocket Watches · c. 1650
Watch by Denis Bordier, Switzerland, c. 1650
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Pocket Watches · c. 1650–60
Watch probably by Jean Rousseau the Younger, Switzerland, c. 1650–60
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Pocket Watches · c. 1660–80
Watch by Pierre Duhamel, Switzerland, c. 1660–80
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Pocket Watches · 1660–1670
Engraved silver watch with a gilt brass dial, signed 'Jean Rousseau', Switzerland (Geneva), 1660-70
Victoria and Albert Museum, London