Pocket Watches · Watch
Watch by Simon Lalemant, France, 1700–1725
- Maker / attribution
- Simon Lalemant (Horloger)
- Date
- 1700–1725
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- France
- Place
- Blois
- Object type
- Watch
- Materials / technique
- silver, brass
- Dimensions
- diameter 5,1 cm; thickness 3,2 cm
- Holding institution
- Musée du Louvre, Paris
- Accession / object no.
- OA 8409
- Credit line
- Musée du Louvre, Département des Objets d'art du Moyen Age, de la Renaissance et des temps modernes
- Catalogue title (original)
- Montre de forme "oignon" (French)
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Record summary
Held and catalogued by Musée du Louvre, Paris (object number OA 8409), this is a watch by Simon Lalemant, made in Blois, France, dated 1700–1725. 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: diameter 5,1 cm; thickness 3,2 cm. 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
Catalogue description — Musée du Louvre (French)
Montre de forme oignon en argent, le fond du boîtier est gravé d'ornements symétriques : feuilles d'acanthe et volutes ; sur le pourtour animaux et cartouches de fleurs et de rinceaux. La lunette du verre est gravée de rinceaux peuplés des mêmes animaux. Cadran en émail blanc à bosses : chiffres romains en émail bleu pour les heures, minutes indiquées en chiffres arabes, à l'intérieur cercle en émail blanc indiquant par des traits et des points les quarts d'heure et les demi-heures. Mouvement à répétition sur timbre possédant un échappement à roue de rencontre.
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 An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.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 : vers 1700 - 1725
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 An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.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 · 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
Poinçon : ; Poinçons sur la tête du pendant : recense des moyens ouvrages d'argent, Paris, 1809-1819 (oreille) ; horlogerie, argent, France, 1822-1838 (écrevisse) ; poinçon illisible ; Signature : ; SIMON LALEMANT A BLOIS sur le mouvement
Provenance
collection Jules-René Olivier (1855-1933), horloger-collectionneur ; legs de sa sœur Marie-Julie Olivier, n° 775 ; comité du 24 janvier 1935 ; conseil du 5 février 1935 ; décret du 4 août 1935 ; déposée au musée des Arts décoratifs le 4 novembre 1935 ; retour au musée du Louvre, arrêté du 5 février 1982.
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
Verge and pair-cased watches
After Christiaan Huygens and Robert Hooke applied the balance spring around 1675, the verge watch became a reasonably reliable timekeeper and the minute hand became standard. Through the eighteenth century the typical English watch was a pair-cased verge: a fusee movement with a pierced, engraved balance cock, housed in an inner case and a separate protective outer case, often of repoussé gold, shagreen, tortoiseshell or enamel.
French watches of the same period were thicker 'oignons', later replaced by elegant thinner watches following Jean-Antoine Lépine's bar-bridge calibre of c. 1770. Dutch, Swiss and German makers supplied international markets, and verge watches were made until the mid-nineteenth century as cheaper alternatives to the cylinder and lever.
What to look for
- The pierced balance cock on the backplate: winged (continental) or with a foot (English); its style dates the watch.
- Fusee and chain visible through the movement; key winding through the dial (early) or case back.
- Hallmarks inside English silver or gold cases, which give a date letter.
- Maker's name and serial number engraved on the backplate; watch papers inside outer cases.
- Enamel dials (after c. 1720) versus earlier champlevé metal dials.
Dating clues
- Champlevé dials: c. 1680–1730; white enamel dials thereafter.
- English case hallmarks give the year of assay to within a year.
- Verge watches persisted in cheap production until c. 1850.
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 escapementFuseeBalance spring (hairspring)Verge escapement
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