Jean Romilly verge antique pocket watch - c1760s

Description

This is a beautiful French antique pocket watch, dating from the 1760s and made by the famous French watchmaker Jean Romilly [history below]. It is in excellent all-original condition for a watch dating back over 240 years - brighter than photographed. The watch comes from my watchmakers private collection and features a gorgeous three colour gold gilt gold fancy case, excellent bright enamel dial and a signed high quality verge fusee key-wound movement. The movement has just been cleaned and oiled by my watchmaker and is in full working order. The watch comes complete with a key for winding and new, presentation box. I sense it will make someone a very special present aswell as providing an excellent financial investment.

Jean Romilly
b. 1714 Geneva, Switzerland, d. 1796 Paris; master 1752
Clockmaker
French; Swiss

A successful businessman, author, weatherman, and clockmaker, Jean Romilly rose from a poor immigrant background to an economic position "close to opulence when the [French] Revolution occurred." Born into a clockmaking dynasty in Geneva, Romilly joined his father, uncle, and three brothers in the family business. When he was about twenty, he emigrated to Paris and was soon accepted into the intellectual circle of the capital. Romilly was a good friend of noted philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau and contributed several articles on clock- and watchmaking to Denis Diderot's Encyclopédie. With his son-in-law, he also founded Paris's first daily newspaper, the Journal de Paris, to which he contributed the weather report.

Romilly specialised in producing movements for watches, usually set in fine cases. He perfected a mechanism that allowed his watches to run for eight days without being rewound. He also developed a watch that ran for 378 days without being wound, although it no longer gave accurate time. Romilly produced only a small number of clock movements, probably only at the specific request of members of the nobility such as Madame de Pompadour.

My asking price is below the value of the watch, given the continual rise in value of antique pocket watches of this age made by famous watchmakers. Such is the high quality of the watch, I will include a six month written guarantee on the movement, which is long enough for you to assess the working order. Also, I offer a full refund if you are not entirely happy, as long as the watch is returned within seven days if UK customer, fourteen days if overseas, in the same condition. Please feel free to view the watch in central London.

The fancy gilt case features green, yellow and rose gold plating and is in beautiful condition for its age. It measures 41mm wide x 20mm deep x 62mm long, including the stem/bow. Both stem and bow are in very good condition. The watch opens correctly, with the hinge in good order.

The beautiful enamel dial is in excellent, bright condition and is signed ‘Romilly’ and A.Paris’. The original fancy hands are in excellent condition and the original lens is perfectly clear.

The original key-wound verge fusee movement [chain driven] is excellent quality and is much brighter and cleaner than photographed. It is signed 'Romilly’ and ‘Paris’. The movement has just been cleaned and oiled by my watchmaker and is in very good working order for a watch of this age. A winding key will be provided with the watch.

A superb antique pocket watch; full of charm and history. Will provide an excellent financial investment as well as a possession to enjoy.