Pocket Watches · Watch
Watch by Pierre Durant, France, 1600–1625
- Maker / attribution
- Pierre Durant (Horloger)
- Date
- 1600–1625
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- France
- Place
- Rouen
- Object type
- Watch
- Materials / technique
- silver, brass
- Dimensions
- height 5 cm; width 2,6 cm; thickness 2,2 cm
- Holding institution
- Musée du Louvre, Paris
- Accession / object no.
- OA 7044
- Credit line
- Musée du Louvre, Département des Objets d'art du Moyen Age, de la Renaissance et des temps modernes
- Catalogue title (original)
- Montre octogonale (French)
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Record summary
Held and catalogued by Musée du Louvre, Paris (object number OA 7044), this is a watch by Pierre Durant, made in Rouen, France, dated 1600–1625. 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. Recorded dimensions: height 5 cm; width 2,6 cm; thickness 2,2 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)
Boîtier octogonale composé de deux couvercles montés à charnière et d'une carrure. Couvercle du cadran orné au centre d'un médaillon octogonal : Lapidation de saint Etienne ; dans les compartiments du pourtour sont gravés des fruits, des rinceaux fleuris, deux anges et un coeur ailé. Couvercle du mouvement offrant un décor similaire, médaillon central représentant Suzanne au bain et les deux vieillards. Charnières gravées de deux têtes d'angelot ; carrure gravée de rinceaux de feuillage. Plaque du cadran gravée de rinceaux fleuris où apparaissent une tête de dauphin et deux enfants couchés encadrant deux coeurs ailés au-dessus d'une couronne ; au centre de l'anneau horaire rapporté figure un paysage avec en arrière-plan un village. Echappement à verge, fusée avec corde à boyau. Coq rectangulaire et cliquet repercés et gravés de fleurs de fraisier mêlées à des rinceaux.
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 An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.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 : 1600 - 1625
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
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 : P/Durant/ARouen
Provenance
Collection Louis Fould (1794-1858), vente à Paris 20 rue de Berry, 4 juin 1860 et jours suivants n° 2318 ; 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.
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