An excellent and rare example of Ilbery?s early work, similar to Jaquet-Droz both in terms of decoration and in terms of its movement. The cases of his watches were decorated in Geneva by the best enamelers, such as Jean-Francois-Victor Dupont, who often signed his work, and Jean-Louis Richter, whose enamels were generally not signed. He maintained close contacts with the continental trade; a watch signed ?Ilbery Paris? is known and Ilbery & Son are recorded in London and Fleurier, as well as in Canton. ?Chinese? watches were often sold by pairs and therefore each pair was fitted in a specially designed box. Whenever such pairs of watches were enameled, they were always painted in a symmetrically opposed manner, like mirror images. Ilbery. Active in London from 1780 in Goswell Street, he moved to Duncan Terrace towards the end of the 18th century. Following James Cox in London and Jaquet Droz in Switzerland, he specialized in the production of luxury watches for the Chinese market. His early production was very much in the English style, featuring a full plate movement and an English type single wheel duplex escapement; however, for his highest quality watches, he incorporated a spring detent escapement. The cases were in the style of those produced in England at the time. Later, along with Jaquet Droz?s Swiss production signed in London and that of William Anthony who worked in London, his watch movements were inspired by the Lepine caliber with free-standing barrel. Ilbery set a new standard for watches made for the Asian market, organizing the production of profusely engraved movements in Switzerland, mainly in Fleurier; he was followed in this by makers such as Bovet and Juvet who also worked in Fleurier (Val de Trav rs). Ilbery can therefore be considered the ?father? of ?Chinese? watches, as they are known today.