Skeleton pocket watch with quarter repeater, carillon, and Jacquemarts
Skeleton pocket watch with quarter repeater, carillon, and Jacquemarts
Switzerland
Circa 1820
Gold, enamel, glass, metal alloys; engraving, guilloche, embossing
Diameter 6.0 cm; thickness 0.8 cm
On the case lid: "DLG", "K18", "13486"
Skeleton mechanical pocket watch in round gold case with corrugation, with two lids, a repeater lever in the shape of a hub with ring, with Jacquemarts on the watch dial. The case lid is adorned with guilloche ornament; the movement case is from glass.
Front enamel disk with two dials: minutes' dial is divided into 60 graduations, and hours' dial is divided into 12 graduations with Arabic Breguet numerals. The hours' scale numerals and graduations are black, the Breguet hands are from blued steel. Certain parts of the movement are visible through the centre; above them are the multi-colored gold figures of a monkey on a tree striking triangle with a hammer; of a bird below that strikes a bell, and a figure of a wolf on the ground that watches a boy, slightly above him, who strikes a scythe. The repeater, when triggered, sets in motion the arms of the boy and monkey, and the bird's head.
The movement with balance wheel, spring-powered cylinder escapement, quarter repeater on two gongs and three hammers. The watch is key winded, the same key is used to set the hands.
Jacquemarts (from French) are moving figures in clockwork mechanisms that strike the time (in tower or tall case clocks) or imitating it (in pocket or wrist watches).
“In Dijon, France, there lived for many years a famous couple - Jacquemart and his wife. Jacquemart is a man, in his middle age, in a wide-brimmed hat and a pipe in his mouth. And his wife is like one of those women peasants who come to Dijon on market days from the neighbouring villages. And yet, the Jacquemarts are world famous. They were honoured in the poem The Marriage of Jacquemart. Dijon residents look up to them, which is hardly surprising since the Jacquemarts never come down from the high clock tower where they live. They have climbed so high to strike, on the hour, the hammers they are holding on the large and loud bell.
The Jacquemarts were put there a long time ago, at the same time as the clock. They are said to have been named after clockmaker Jacquemart, who cast them in bronze. Later, they acquired a tiny baby who strikes the quarters.» (From: Sheipak A.A. History of Science and Technology. Part II. Moscow, 2004, p. 149 [in Russian]).
Инв.2085/ДПИ