Lot 441

Gaudron à Paris, 60 mm, 214 g, circa 1695
A one-handed verge pocket watch "Oignon" with alarm from the watchmaker to the King of France and to the Duc d'Orleans
Case: silver, pierced decoration, rear bell. Dial: silver champlevé, centreal alarm disc with white enamel cartouches. Movm.: full plate movement, chain/fusee, florally engraved barrel for alarm train, 1 hammer, large three-arm steel balance.
"Oignons" were most popular in France during the last 30 years of the Sun King’s reign; only a few of them were produced later than that.Presumably there were workshops in France that produced ebauches for oignons, however, as of today no such ebauche has ever surfaced. Oignons have a large gap between the plates which means that the parts of the movement are well visible; the viewer can easily see the individual parts and how they work like in a large-scale model - this was part of the great appeal these watches had. The oignon is robust and useful pocket watches that - in contrast to the previous pocket and pendant watches at the time - shows the time with adequate accuracy.

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