SWISS, SIGNED RECORDON, SPENCER & PERKINS, LONDON, NO. 141, AN EXCEEDINGLY RARE AND LARGE YELLOW GOLD, EMAMEL, RUBY AND PEARL SET QUARTER REPEATING SELF-WINDING ‘PERPETUELLE’ POCKET WATCH WITH DOUBLE-WHEEL DUPLEX ESCAPEMENT, MADE FOR THE CHINESE MARKET

This sumptuous and technically fascinating watch is one of the extremely rare examples of an early self-winding watch. Although exhibiting many of the traits of English watches, the workmanship appears to be entirely Swiss. The case bears Neuchatel hallmarks and is of a type used for watches intended for the Chinese market, in fact it has close similarities to watches by the great Swiss maker Jaquet-Droz. Close inspection has revealed the presence of Chinese characters on the reverse of the bell showing that it was almost certainly in China at some stage, perhaps returning to Europe during the Boxer rebellion. The self-winding or ‘perpetuelle’ movement is quite remarkable, Recordon, a native of Geneva applied for a patent covering five different variations for a self-winding movement in1780. It is also well known that he worked with Jaquet-Droz and Maillardet, Jaquet-Droz’s London agent and partner. Recordon was also the London agent for Breguet and it has been suggested that his patent application was perhaps even made on behalf of Breguet. A further interesting technical feature of the present watch is the use of the double-wheel duplex escapement, this escapement is associated with Urban Jurgensen. It has been suggested that Recordon's patent for the self-winding watch was registered perhaps as a commercial move in order to prevent the development of self-winding mechanisms in England by other makers and therefore securing this potentially lucrative trade for his associates in Switzerland.