Notes
This watch, with carillon repeating on such a large number of gongs, is virtually unique. Eduard JeanRichard specialized in musical watches, making among other things, a carillon watch of seven gongs playing the Swiss National Anthem. In the 1920's, the company advertised that it made carillon watches, playing, among other tunes, "God Save the King". The sonnerie movement is based on the invention by Henri Golay in 1859 for striking watches with minute-repeating mechanism. Very few were made.JeanRichard began his career as an ebauche maker for other companies. In 1915 he found his own retail company. His movements are very characteristic. Certain features are found only in his watches, such as the shape of the spring for the surprise element, the steel insert at the barrel bridge, the specific shape of the star bridge, etc. In the Musée International d'Horlogerie in La Chaux-de-Fonds there is a watch by him playing the "Ranz des vaches" on six gongs. He was the master of carillon waches in the 20th century."God save the King", the English National anthem, is generally considered to be anonymous, though it is sometimes thought to have been written by Henry Carey in 1740. Alternately, it has been said that Madame de Maintenon, mistress and later wife of King Louis XIV, commissioned the hymn from Jean Baptiste Lulli in 1686, for the founding of her school for young women at St-Cyr.In any case, it is known that the song was first performed in London in 1745, following the victory of "Bonnie Prince Charlie", pretender to the British throne, over King George's Army at Preston Pans, near Edinburgh. Although Charles was eventually defeated and the throne passed to George II , the tune became so popular that by the early 19th century, it was referred to as the English national anthem.Many composers, including Beethoven, Haydn, and Brahms, have incorporated the melody into their musical compositions. The tune has been used as the national anthems of several other countries, including Germany, Russia, America and Switzerland.