{"product_id":"bataille-aine-a-besancon-18k-gold-quarter-repeating-pocket-watch-c-1850-1865","title":"18ct Gold Quarter-Repeater, a Maker Held at Greenwich, c.1850","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eA fully functioning quarter-repeater in 18k gold, signed by its maker on the dust cover, a maker whose work is held in the Royal Museums Greenwich collection. One of the most demanding complications of the 19th century, in a case that rewards close examination.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBetween 1849 and 1851, Besançon's output of watches grew from ten thousand a year to more than a hundred thousand. This watch was made in the middle of that boom, and it was made to stand above it: an 18k gold full hunter of 49.6mm that strikes the time on demand.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePull the gold pendant push-piece, give it a quarter turn, and the watch counts the hours and then the quarters on two gongs, clearly and correctly. A quarter repeater asked more of a nineteenth-century workshop than almost anything else: the striking train has to read the position of the hands at any moment and translate it instantly into the right count, every time. Surviving examples that still strike properly are the exception; this one has been tested and does.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe case opens in three stages, each with its own click: the front lid over the dial, the back cover, and the cuvette over the movement. The dial is white enamel with slim black Roman numerals and a bar minute track, under gold hands in the scrolled Louis XV style. The enamel is complete, with no chips or losses; under raking light a few fine hairlines show around eleven and twelve, the honest surface of enamel fired a century and a half ago. The caseback carries a deeply engraved heraldic cartouche in foliate scrollwork, the bezel a rope-pattern guilloché border, and the ornate floral bow and pendant are original and intact. At 68.7 grams it is a substantial thing to hold.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBataille aîné made the movement himself, in his own Besançon factory, and signed it as a maker rather than a retailer; the standing of the name, and the museum record behind it, are set out in the panels below. What the movement shows in the hand is the ambition: hand-shaped bridges and blued steel screws, provincial France working to Paris standards.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt winds and sets on its key, runs, and strikes. It is presented in its original purple velvet and cream silk box.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe marks, the movement and the condition are set out piece by piece in the drawers below; the maker's record is set out in The Record.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bataille Aîné à Besançon","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54239830835539,"sku":"PW-0030","price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1080\/3121\/3907\/files\/solid-gold-pocket-watch-french-repeater-amsterdam-netherlands31-front_hero.jpg?v=1785273333","url":"https:\/\/estatecollection.nl\/products\/bataille-aine-a-besancon-18k-gold-quarter-repeating-pocket-watch-c-1850-1865","provider":"The Estate Collection","version":"1.0","type":"link"}