Anon. A rare and early 18K pink gold openface minute repeating verge watch

Dating from circa 1800, the present watch is distinguished by the early minute repeating mechanism strike onto a wire gong, both horological rarities by themselves.

It is commonly believed that the very first minute repeating watch was made around 1715, however it was not until the 1780s when a wire gong surrounding the movement replaced the hitherto used bell, improving not only the quality of the sound but especially helping to reduce the thickness of a watch considerably.