Important Collectors’ Wristwatches, P...

Hong Kong,the Ritz Carlton Hotel,harbour Room, 3rd Floor, Nov 25, 2006

LOT 129

?Concealed Erotic Scene? French. Paris discharge marks of Jean Baptiste Fouache for 1774-80. Very fine and very rare, gold, painted on enamel and gilt brass sealing-wax case, set with semi-precious stones, with a miniature watch and concealed erotic enameled scene.

C. Gilded metal sheath with floral and foliate decoration in relief, two sides with applied silver decoration set with multi-colored stones, hinged two-body vari-colored gold top houses the watch, the back of which has a painted on enamel portrait of a lady. The bottom of the sheath has a dendritic (moss) agate on one side and a painted enamel medallion with a portrait of a lady within a frame of ruby-colored stones on the other. The medallion can be rotated revealing a potentially incandescent scene between the lady and a gentleman.
D. White enamel, radial Roman numerals, outer dot minute divisions, five-minute Arabic numerals. Gold "Louis XVI" hands.
M. Oval, 21.5 x 18 mm., built on three levels, brass, cylindrical pillars, fusee and chain, verge escapement, plain three-arm brass balance with flat spring, mounted between the third and fourth plate. Dim. Length 145 mm., width 20 mm.