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Swiss. A fine and attractive 18K gold, enamel and diamond-set keyless cylinder scarab-form pendant watch with chain

UNSIGNED, CIRCA 1910

Details

Swiss. A fine and attractive 18K gold, enamel and diamond-set keyless cylinder scarab-form pendant watch with chain
Unsigned, circa 1910
Oval-shaped gilt-finished keyless cylinder movement, glazed dust cover, white enamel dial, black and red Arabic numerals, beetle-form case with finely engraved scroll decorated sides and realistically modelled underside, all underneath the translucent red enamel on guilloché background and diamond-set wings, opening to reveal the dial, upper part and scarabs' head with black and red enamel and diamond-set decoration, ruby-set eyes, curved antennas, together with a gilt chain consisting of pierced stylized scarab form links, unsigned
54 mm. length

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Lot Essay

Beetle or scarab-form watches were highly fashionable in China in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Two scarab-watches are described and illustrated in Timepieces, The Forbidden City Publishing House, pp. 282 & 283. The tome comprises a selection of timepieces in Beijing's Palace Museum which owns one of the largest collections of mechanical timepieces of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries in the world, comprising over 1,000 pieces. The collection contains both Chinese and foreign-made watches, clocks and automatons. Chinese exhibits came from the Palace's own workshops, Guangzhou (Canton) and Suzhou (Suchow). Watches made abroad include manufacturers from Switzerland, Great Britain, the United States and Japan.

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