EveningAttributable to Jaquet-Droz

EveningAttributable to Jaquet-Droz, Geneva, No. 8, circa 1785.Magnificent and exceptional 18 ct. gold and enamel pearl- and ruby-set two-train singing bird watch, made for the Chinese market. Small eccentric white enamel with Roman chapters and outer minute ring. Gold pierced hands. Polished gold dial plate with split pearl border, applied with an enamelled cornucopia set with half-pearls, a flower at its top with translucent green enamel leaves and half pearl petals.The enamelled singing bird is perched above the dial on an applied gold branch with enamel leaves and two pearl-set flowers. Notes This is the earliest type of singing bird watch, of which only three or four are known to have survived. One was sold by Antiquorum in the sale The Art of Horology in Geneva, November 13, 1999, lot No. 66 and bearing number 1 scratched on. There is also one in the Sandoz Collection, which previously was in the Gustave Loup Collection.Prior to the invention of the whistle with sliding piston, which is generally attributed to the Jaquet-Droz in collaboration with their co-workers Jean-Frédéric Leschot and Jacob Frisard, the bird's song was rendered by organ pipes of the type used in serinettes (mechanical organs popular during the 18th century, used to teach canaries to sing). The result, though charming, was far from realistic and the organ pipes took up a great deal of space.The piston whistle was an innovation which allowed for the miniaturisation of the mechanism while also r