Swiss. A fine and attractive 18K gold, enamel and diamond-set keywound cylinder scarab-form pendant watch

UNSIGNED, CIRCA 1880

Details

Swiss. A fine and attractive 18K gold, enamel and diamond-set keywound cylinder scarab-form pendant watch
Unsigned, circa 1880
Oval-shaped gilt-finished cylinder movement, gold cuvette, white enamel dial, Roman numerals, scarab-form case, black champlevé enamel decorated sides, realistically modelled underside with a glazed compartment to the inside, diamond-set black and translucent scarlet enamel on engine-turned background decorated wings, opening to reveal the dial, black enamel and diamond-set chased head, diamond-set eyes, unsigned
48.5 mm. overall length

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Lot Essay

Beetle or scarab-form watches were highly fashionable in China in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Two scarab-watches are described and illustrated in Timepieces, The Forbidden City Publishing House, pp. 282 & 283. The tome comprises a selection of timepieces in Beijing's Palace Museum which owns one of the largest collections of mechanical timepieces of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries in the world, comprising over 1,000 pieces. The collection contains both Chinese and foreign-made watches, clocks and automatons. Chinese exhibits came from the Palace's own workshops, Guangzhou (Canton) and Suzhou (Suchow). Watches made abroad include manufacturers from Switzerland, Great Britain, the United States and Japan.

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