Openface watch with matching chain and lapel brooch
Openface watch with matching chain and lapel brooch
France, Paris
Сirca 1867
Chaude
Gold, enamel, glass, metal alloys, diamonds, emeralds, rubies; enamel over engravng, engraving
4.9 сm in diameter, 0.9 cm thick
On the movement lid: "21378"
Mechanical pocket watch in round gold case adorned by sash of emeralds, with two lids, a ring and winding crown. The case lid is rimmed with sash of diamonds, adorned with jewels: various size diamonds, rubies and geometric pattern emeralds. The engraved inscription “Chaude HORLR DE S.M.L'EMPER Palais Royal, 35 Paris No 6166” beneath the Napoleon III coat of arms (featuring an eagle placed over a crowned mantle with criss-crossed sceptres, with lightning bolts in claws, and framed with a chain of the Legion of Honour Order, established in 1802) is on the movement lid.
The golden dial is lavishly adorned with finely chased floral ornament, translucent red enamel over chasing (ornamental rosette in the centre and the hours' scale), sashes and onlay diamonds; with two scales: minutes' - divided into 60 intervals, and hours' - divided into 12 units with numerals in the Turkish-Osmanli typeface. The hands are from blued steel. The bezel is rimmed with diamonds.
The movement with jewels, bimetallic pierced balance wheel with screw, spring-powered lever escapement, indication of hours and minutes, and remontoir.
The watch comes with a chatelaine, with gold links, lavishly adorned with precious stones: emeralds, rubies and diamonds and a brooch with a crescent at the centre, which is a pendant with a pin soldered at the rear side. Similar to the chatelaine, the brooch is lavishly decorated with rubies, diamonds and emeralds.
The time of making and the colour patterns of this set suggest that the watch, chatelaine and the brooch were intended as a present for Abdulaziz (1830-1876), the 32nd Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, who reigned in 1861-1876 (red, green and white were the heraldic colours of the Ottoman Empire). Invited by Napoleon III to Paris to attend the World Exhibition in 1867, Abdulaziz was the first Ottoman ruler to visit Western Europe. He also visited London, where Queen Victoria made him a Knight of the Garter, the highest such order in Great Britain, and Prussia and Vienna.
Инв.970.1-3/ДПИ