Antique Carriage Verge Fusee Alarm Watch. Tortoiseshell Case. Switzerland, Circa 1780

Antique carriage verge fusee alarm watch with tortoiseshell case, made in Switzerland by Jacques Francois Dufour circa 1780 and in fine condition. The watch works fine and is greatly preserved though being more than two hundred years old. It has a a patinated tortoiseshell veneered case with the elongated pendant stem. The dial and movement are hinged inside this outer case and they swing outwards on the hinge. The case has both bras pins around the bezel and steel apertures and pins on the back cover, with a landscape painted scene of a young man taking down a birds nest and giving it to his lady friend. The inside of this outer case has a coppery colored appearance with very little wear. The enameled dial is round and white, with Breguet type Arabic hours, open bar minute track with cluster of dots placed every five minutes and Arabic markers placed at the quarter hours as minute markers (15, 30, 45 & 60). There are gilt rococo Louis XVI-style hands and a scalloped brass alarm ring with Arabic hours. We can also see two key winding apertures. The dial is signed Dufour and A. GENEVE, this one adorned with scrollwork. The watch mounts is verge or crown wheel escapement with accompanying contrate wheel below and a single chain driven fusee movement on the time side, and a smaller barrel spring for winding the alarm. The metal of the casing is almost like new. There are tapered plain round baluster pillars and no decorative foliate ornament hanging from the back plate. The rear plate is quite simple and uses the open foliate filigree balance bridge, screwed at both ends and fairly typical of Swiss work with an adjacent silvered regulator, marked with French initials for faster and slower. The back plate appears to have a patinated gilt surface finish, with hand-engraved Dufour, a Geneve inscription in a fine cursive lettering. This original antique carriage verge fusee alarm watch with tortoiseshell case is a very special piece, worthy of a great collection. Dimensions: Width: 3.54 in / 9 cm. Height: 5.19 in / 13 cm.