Pocket Watches · Watch
Watch by Paul Dupin, England, 1740–1760
- Maker / attribution
- Paul Dupin (Horloger)
- Date
- 1740–1760
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- England
- Place
- Londres, England
- Object type
- Watch
- Materials / technique
- gold
- Dimensions
- depth 2 cm; diameter 4,9 cm; depth 2,2 cm; diameter 4 cm
- Holding institution
- Musée du Louvre, Paris
- Accession / object no.
- OA 8347
- 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)
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 8347), this is a watch by Paul Dupin, made in Londres, England, dated 1740–1760. 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. Recorded dimensions: depth 2 cm; diameter 4,9 cm; depth 2,2 cm; diameter 4 cm. The record is illustrated with 1 photograph.
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 de forme ronde et son double boîtier en or ciselé et émaillé. Le double boîtier à couvercle largement évidé, s'ouvre au moyen d'un bouton à brillant. Le revers est émaillé d'un médaillon polychrome à corbeille de fleurs et perroquet, encadré de rocailles en or ciselé, partiellement ajouré et émaillé de fleurs polychromes et de feuilles vert translucide. Le même décor de rocailles et d'émaux se retrouve sur le pourtour du couvercle. Montre en or ciselé et ajouré au pourtour de rinceaux feuillagés interrompus par deux réserves gravées, l'une d'une tête de lion et l'autre située sous l'anneau de suspension, portant le numéro 1509. Sous la lunette à verre, le cadran est émaillé de blanc à deux cercles de chiffres horaires, romains et arabes et deux aiguilles ajourées à brillants. L'intérieur de la montre est garni d'une doublure en argent. Le mouvement à répétition est enveloppé de cuivre doré, recouvert d'un coq uni.
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 An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.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)
Date de création/fabrication : 1740 - 1760
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) (partiellement sur l'or) · Matériau : laiton (doré) · Technique : techniques métal (orfèvrerie)
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
Inscription : ; PM (Marque à l'intérieur de la cuvette du boîtier extérieur) ; Poinçon : ; sur la tête du pendant : petite garantie, Paris, depuis 1838 (tête d'aigle) ; Signature : ; Mouvement et cache-poussière signés
Provenance
collection Jules-René Olivier (1855-1933), horloger-collectionneur ; legs de sa sœur Marie-Julie Olivier, n° 693 ; comité du 24 janvier 1935 ; conseil du 5 février 1935 ; décret du 4 août 1935
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
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
Related records
Pocket Watches · c. 1740–60
Watch by Charles Cabrier II, England, c. 1740–60 (The Met 17.190.1458)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Pocket Watches · c. 1740–60
Watch by Charles Cabrier II, England, c. 1740–60 (The Met 17.190.1461)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Pocket Watches · c. 1751–52
Watch by John Rich, England, c. 1751–52
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Pocket Watches · c. 1753
Gold watch, signed 'Jno. Ellicott, London, 3719', the inner case pierced and engraved, with a casemaker's mark 'JB', London, about 1753
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Pocket Watches · 1750–1810
Astronomical watch by George Margetts No.3043 in pair case, 1750–1810
Science Museum Group, London
Pocket Watches · 1750–1775
Watch made for the Turkish market
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Pocket Watches · c. 1760
Clock-watch by Sr. Joseph Martineau, England, c. 1760
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Pocket Watches · c. 1760
Watch by John Ellicott, England, c. 1760
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York