The calibre and the escapement of this watch are very similar to those used by Robert Robin for the early lever watches he made on the model of that by Josiah Emery, imported from England as early as 1782. This watch can be compared with the work of other pupils of Robin, such as Bergmiller, Lallemand and Dc Belle described in Horlagerre ditcienne No. 23, Decembre 1978: H/ stain/ de l'edtohhenrent a anew -Les mantles d euccrr / antaices do to premiere gerurn/ion. (Photocopy supplied with the watch) Fallowing the French Revolution, many of the laws and institutions associated with the monarchy were withdrawn or annulled, and in several cases, not immediately replaced. One example is the official hallmarking of objects made in precious metal, for the Assemble-e Legislative cancelled the law cm the 1st. October 1791. Naturally, with no official controls, substandard silver and gold began to flood the market, with the result that master goldsmiths, as members of the recognised guild introduced their own control mark 'Head of a Greek woman' with the letter 'P'- in 1793, as a self-policed guarantee for the quality of silver. As this single mark was applied to objects made in both 1st.(958) and 2nd.(843) standard metal, the Guild decided the following year(1794) to replace it with a similar head, but bearing the number '1' for 1st. quality and a ' Horse's head' mark for objects of 2nd. standard. At the same ti me, the 'Baby's head' was introduced as a guarantee for items made in gold. All these `temporary' marks were supcrceded by the act of 19 Brumaire an VI(9 November 1797) which reintroduced the official controls and duties on precious metals with new marks, the law coming into effect on 19th June 1798. With the re-introduction of official controls, it became necessary for any objects not already sold, to be re-submitted and stamped with the marks in force at the time of sale. Hence it is not unusual to find watch cases from the period bearing several apparently conflicting sets of marks.