This watch-one of the most outstanding examples of early American casemaking art-is particularly important on two accounts. First, it is extremely rare to find such an early watch with its original invoice. The invoice indicates the exact date of purchase and original price of the watch, and gives insight into the extent of the activity of american retailers and casemakers. Second, the fine craftsmanship of the case is evidence that American casemakers possessed the skills to produce high qualitcases at the same level as the English makers of the time.Ball, Black & Co. was a manufacturer of jewelry, as its letterhead indicates. The company's cases were made either in its own workshop, or by specialized casemaking companies.The case of the present watch was punched with the Ball, Black & Co. trademark before it was engraved, which indicates that it was stamped during the production process. Furthermore, it is punched with "prestige" marks. A case of English maunfacture would bear an authentic mark.Unlike the manufacturers of movements, American casemakers did not need special equipment. They required only casemaking skills, which were extremely high as proven by the present example.Louis IX (1214-1270)Became King of France at age twelve. In 1234, he married Margaret of Provence, the sister of Eleanor, wife of Henry IIIof England.Louis worked towards the political unification of France: he abandoned French claims to Rousillon and Barcelona in exchange for the yielding of Spanish claims to Provence and Languedoc. He also largely eliminated the feuding and wars among French nobles and vassals that had ravaged France before his time. He reformed the system of taxation and made major strides toward eliminating trial by combat and trial by ordeal in favor of trial by jury. His reputation for integrity was such that foreign moarchs regularly asked him to arbitrate their disputes.He was also the founder of Quinze-Vingts (the Fifteen Score, as it was originally intended for 300 inmates), a hospital for the poor, sick, and blind.In 1270, King Louis joined a crusade which landed in Tunis, Tunisia and was where he caught typhoid fever and consequently died on August 25. His canonization was proclaimed at Orvieto in 1297 by Pope Boniface VIII.