Unsigned (Ilbery

Unsigned (Ilbery), Swiss, made for the Chinese Market, the enamel probably by Richter, circa 1810. Extremely rare and fine 18K gold and enamel pearl-set, centre seconds watch with solid gold overlaid movement and special escapement. Three body, bezels, pendant and bow with champleve enamelled decoration, the back enamelled panel with a very fine painted landscape with two riding gentlemen, a tree and further split-pearl inlaid ornaments on the foreground. Hinged gold cuvette engraved on the border with foliage decoration and centered with a rosette. White enamel with Roman numerals and outer minute and seconds ring. Blued steel skeleton hands. Gilt brass, overlaid with a plate of solid pink gold, Chinese calibre, fully engraved with scrolls of foliage, with free standing barrel and gold wheel train, single wheel duplex escapement with gold escape wheel, the three-arm balance with wedge shaped and partly blued steel weights, flat balance spring. hn very.good condition. Diam. 58 mm. Notes Althought it is not signed, this watch can be attributed to William Ilbery who was the only one producing at that time watches for the Chinese Market with the bridges and the barrel cover overlaid in solid gold. A similar movement, signed by Ilbery, from the G. Loup Collection, is illustrated in A. Chapuis: La Mantra Chinoise, Neuchatel 1919, p. 182. A similar watch was sold by Antiquorum in Hong Kong on 18 June 1994. Due to the quality of the painting and the colours used, the enamel ca Read more…