18K Gold Quarter-Hour Repeater Erotic Automaton Pocket Watch c.1805 | 58mm

Details

MAKE

Attributed Maker: Likely Henry Capt. – Unsigned
Country: Switzerland
Type: Man's Automaton Pocket Watch
Circa Date: 1805
Rarity: R10 – Extremely Rare

COMPLICATIONS

Repeater: Quarter-Hour Repeater
Automaton: Animated Polychrome Enamel Scene
Additional Decoration: Animated Bedroom Scene & Water Fountain

CASE

Material: Solid 18K Gold
Size: 18 Size
Diameter: 58mm
Style: Open Face
Exterior: Plain
Interior Decoration: Polychrome Enamel Automaton Scene
Condition: C3 – Very Good

DIAL

Material: Porcelain
Color: White
Numerals: Arabic Numerals
Hands: Breguet-Style Hands
Seconds: Regulator / Subsidiary Indication at 6:00
Condition: D3 – Very Good

MOVEMENT

Winding / Setting: Key Operated
Escapement: Verge
Power Transmission: Fusee
Finish: Gilt
Complications: Quarter-Hour Repeater & Automaton
Condition: M3 – Very Good

Condition

The watch will be timed out and refreshed by our watchmaker if needed prior to shipment.

The photographs shown are professionally taken images of the actual item being offered for sale. We do not use stock photos, so the watch you see is the watch you will receive.

Please examine all photographs carefully, as they form an important part of the description and provide the best representation of the case, dial, movement, and overall condition.

This approximately 220-year-old complicated automaton pocket watch remains in Very Good overall condition.

The substantial solid 18K gold case is rated C3 – Very Good, while the white porcelain dial is likewise rated D3 – Very Good.

The gilt fusee movement and its complicated repeating and automaton mechanisms are rated M3 – Very Good.

Given the complexity, age, enamel artwork, and mechanical animation of this watch, its state of preservation contributes significantly to its collector appeal.

Please examine all photographs and video carefully, as they form an important part of the description and provide the best representation of the watch, enamel decoration, and automaton.

At an impressive 58mm and 18 Size, this is a substantial early nineteenth-century timepiece. The solid 18K gold open-face case is externally restrained, allowing the remarkable automaton artwork and complicated mechanism to provide the watch's visual and horological impact.

The polychrome enamel automaton depicts an elaborate bedroom scene enhanced by a water fountain and richly colored enamel background. When the quarter-hour repeater is activated, the automaton mechanism brings the scene to life through mechanical motion. The combination of miniature enamel artistry, animation, and repeating watchmaking makes this an exceptional example of the elaborate mechanical objects created for wealthy collectors during this period.

The time display consists of a white porcelain dial with Arabic numerals, elegant Breguet-style hands, and a regulator/subsidiary seconds indication at 6:00. The dial remains in Very Good condition.

Inside is a gilt key-operated fusee movement with verge escapement, representative of sophisticated Swiss watchmaking of the early nineteenth century. The movement also operates the quarter-hour repeating complication and automaton, bringing together timekeeping, audible striking, and mechanical animation within a single pocket watch.

The case, dial, and movement are each rated C3 / D3 / M3 – Very Good, while the watch carries a stated R10 rarity rating, the highest level on a scale where 10 represents extremely rare.

This is much more than an antique gold pocket watch. It combines early Swiss complicated watchmaking, a quarter-hour repeater, fusee movement, polychrome enamel artwork, and mechanical automaton in an unusually large and visually impressive

Polychrome Enamel Automaton

Automaton watches occupy a fascinating intersection between horology, mechanical engineering, miniature art, and entertainment.

Rather than simply displaying the time, an automaton incorporates mechanically animated elements that create movement within a miniature scene.

This example is particularly elaborate, combining a richly colored polychrome enamel background, interior scene, water fountain, and multiple animated elements. Activation of the repeating mechanism also brings the automaton to life.

The result is a miniature mechanical tableau concealed within an otherwise comparatively restrained gold pocket watch.

Quarter-Hour Repeater

The quarter-hour repeater adds another important complication.

Activated on demand, the repeating mechanism audibly communicates the approximate time by striking the hours and elapsed quarter-hours.

Repeating mechanisms required considerably greater mechanical complexity than ordinary time-only watches. In this example, that mechanism has the additional responsibility of activating the automaton, creating a direct connection between the watch's acoustic and visual complications.

Verge Fusee Movement

The movement represents an important earlier era of portable mechanical watchmaking.

Its verge escapement and fusee system differ substantially from the lever movements that became dominant later in the nineteenth century.

The fusee was designed to compensate for variations in mainspring force as the watch ran, using changing mechanical leverage to provide more consistent power to the movement.

Combined with the repeater and automaton mechanisms, the gilt fusee movement demonstrates the extraordinary mechanical ingenuity possible in an early nineteenth-century pocket watch.

Attribution to Henry Capt.

The watch is unsigned, so the maker should not be presented as definitively established.

It has, however, been attributed as likely the work of Henry Capt., a name associated with complicated Swiss watches and musical and automaton mechanisms.

For a watch of this importance, maintaining the distinction between documented authorship and expert attribution is important. Accordingly, we describe this example as “likely by Henry Capt.” rather than as a signed Henry Capt. watch.

Rarity & Collector Significance

This watch carries a stated R10 rarity rating, representing the highest level on the 1-to-10 rarity scale.

Its collector importance comes from the unusual combination of:

• Circa 1805 manufacture
• Substantial 58mm / 18 Size proportions
• Solid 18K gold case
• Quarter-hour repeater
• Mechanically activated automaton
• Elaborate polychrome enamel artwork
• Animated water-fountain element
• Early verge escapement
• Traditional fusee
• Gilt movement
• Very Good overall condition
• Attribution as likely by Henry Capt.
• R10 rarity

Each of these characteristics would provide collector interest independently. Their combination within one early Swiss pocket watch makes this a particularly unusual example of complicated horology.