Baudouin a Paris

Baudouin a Paris, circa 1700. Very fine gilt brass Louis XIV "Oignon". Double body "oignon", the bezel with foliage engraved decoration, the back chased with facing cockerels within intricate inhabited foliage, a stag, a wild boar and a hare, engraved on the border. Gilt copper with black Roman numerals and outer Arabic minute chapters on white enamel cartouches, with inner ring for quarter and half hour divisions, the centre engraved with inhabited foliage. Blued steel hands. Hinged gilt brass full plate with Egyptian pillars, fusee with chain, verge escapement, plain steel three-arm balance, gilt brass Louis XIV cock pierced and engraved with inhabited foliage. Signed on the back plate. In very good condition. Diam. 59 nun. Notes Being the first watches fitted with a balance spring (invented by Christian Huygens in 1675), Louis XIV oignon were the firs accurate watches ever produced, they soon became necessary in every day use and handed down from generation to generation, it is therefore extremely rare to find them in such a good condition.