Verge Pocket Watch by Rousseau

An early London verge, by an interesting maker.

MOVEMENT : Fine gilt verge movement, with beautifully engraved and pierced balance cock featuring a large bird. Four fine crested Egyptian pillars. Signed “J. Rousseau, LONDON” and numbered “960”.

The screws are mismatched, and there is a redundant hole on the right hand corner of the balance cock foot, which presumably was added to allow a 2nd screw to fix the foot.

DIAL : Later white enamel dial, in reasonable condition, with a couple of flakes at the centre hole, 2 light hairlines radiating from the edge at 8, and some fading to the numbers.

Good blued steel 18th century beetle and poker hands.

INNER CASE : Gilded brass.

The stem has been reattached, and the gilding worn throughout, but generally in nice condition with no dents.
The high dome crystal is fine, and the bezel closes but does not snap shut.

OUTER CASE : Gilded brass with a tortoiseshell covering.

There is general wear to the gilding, a dent to the opening catch button, but the bezel snaps shut correctly and the case is in overall good condition.

The shell has a good colour, and just 3 small pieces missing from the bezel, and 3 short cracks, but no shell missing from the back. Only 6 pins missing.

This case is probably a little later than the movement, ie. mid 18th century.

This watch was probably made by Jacob Rousseau, who left France for London in about 1670, to represent his father Jean Rousseau.

NB. If you are outside the E.U. you must have a CITES certificate in order to import this item, which contains tortoiseshell. We can obtain this on your behalf at a cost of £50 (allow up to 14 working days).
Due to the strict exporting rules of CITES listed materials, there may also be further shipping costs.