Lot 288

Signed "Rengaw à Paris" (Johann Georg Wagner aus Friedberg), 43 mm, 76 g, circa 1780
A rare "à toc et à tact" quarter repeating verge pocket watch with original carnelian winding key
Case: 18k gold, open work decoration around the edge, rear bell. Dial: enamel. Movm.: full plate movement, chain/fusee, 2 hammers, pierced balance bridge with the initials of the watchmaster "JGW", three-arm brass balance.
This clock was produced in Friedberg; Johann Georg Wagner, however, spelled his name backwards (Rengaw) and added the designation "Paris" to his signature like a French maker would, to achieve a higher sales price.
In addition to Wagner, there were another 24 makers in Friedberg at the time whose names (spelled backwards) can be found with a fake designation such as London, Paris or Augsburg.
Johann Georg Wagner was born in Mulhouse in 1714; he married in Friedberg in 1746 and died there in 1791.
Source: Adelheid Riolini-Unger "Friedberger Uhren" (Friedberg clocks), local museum in Friedberg, Augsburg 1993, page 181