98th Auction

2018/11/10

Lot 353

Julien Le Roy à Paris, 50 mm, 95 g, circa 1750
An exceptionally fine and rare gold enamel verge pocket watch with tortoiseshell covered outer case "The Birth of Venus"
Case: outer case - brass, gilt, tortoiseshell covered, stud decoration. Inner case - 22k gold, polychrome enamel, makers mark "MM" under a crown. Dial: enamel. Movm.: full plate movement, chain/fusee, three-arm steel balance.
The back is almost completely covered with exquisite enamel painting. The miniature shows "the birth of Venus" and is framed by a wide, engraved gold border with polychrome opaque and translucent "basse-taille" flowers and leaves.
Julien Le Roy (1686 -1759) was one of the most outstanding clock- and watchmakers of his time and certainly played a decisive part in establishing the leading role French clockmaking had in the 18th century. He became a master in 1713, presented an equation clock to the Académie Royale des Sciences in 1717, and was appointed clockmaker to the king in 1739 (with his own rooms at the Louvre). Le Roy invented the adjustable bracket for the verge escapement wheel ("potence"), the repetition strike on springs instead of bells for pocket watches, and the "all-or-nothing" piece for repeating watches. His inventions and improvements were of such extreme importance that most watchmakers adopted them promptly for their own pieces. Later Le Roy was director of the Société des Arts; he and his son supplied the entries on watches and clocks in the encyclopaedia compiled by Diderot and d'Alembert.

estimated
5.00010.000 €
Price realized
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