Louis-Frédéric Perrelet Presentation Pocket Watch with Enamel Portrait of Jérôme Bonaparte

Technical characteristics

Type

Open-face watch

Caliber

17’’’ ½

Diameter

44.6 mm

Case Number

198

Case Material

18K yellow gold and enamel

Place recorded

France

Movement Number

1 775 (ebauche No. 0198)

Maker / attribution

Louis-Frédéric Perrelet

Miniature Signature

H.L. Steiner à Paris

Design

Visible features

• Polychrome enamel portrait miniature on the case back depicts a military officer in uniform against a red drapery and dome background. • The miniature is framed within an octagonal recess surrounded by engraved gold scrollwork on the outer bezel. • Circular gold bow is mounted atop a rounded pendant at 12 o'clock.

Identity and Presentation Context

This open-face presentation pocket watch is catalogued by the source under the brand Perrelet, Paris and model designation 'Horloger Mécanicien', dated to December 1852. The case is catalogued as No. 198, and the movement is recorded as No. 1 775 with ebauche No. 0198. The watch is distinguished by its reported iconographical subject: Jérôme Bonaparte (1784–1860), King of Westphalia, Marshall of France, and appointed President of the French Senate in 1852. The auction catalogue identifies the portrait miniature in the centre of the case back as Jérôme Bonaparte in bust against a red curtain with the dome of the French Senate at the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris in the background. The miniature is recorded as painted polychrome on enamel on gold and signed at the lower left 'H.L. Steiner à Paris'.

Case Construction and Decorative Execution

Direct visual inspection of the available photograph confirms a polychrome enamel portrait miniature on the case back showing a military officer in uniform against a red drapery and dome background. The miniature is set within an octagonal recess surrounded by engraved gold scrollwork on the outer perimeter, and a circular gold bow is mounted atop a rounded pendant at 12 o'clock. The auction catalogue lists the case as 18K yellow gold and enamel, key-winding and round-shaped, with a diameter of 44.6 mm and an approximate weight of 67.4 grams. It also reports a case back engraved in taille-douce (fine cut) with friezes, a fluted case-band, and a gold cuvette (dome) carrying a signature.

Dial, Mechanism, and Cataloguing Limitations

Because only the case back is visible in the provided reference photograph, all descriptions of the dial, hands, cuvette interior, and internal movement rely entirely on the auction house catalogue. The dial is reported as white enamel featuring radial Roman numerals, blued steel Breguet hands, and subsidiary seconds at 6 o'clock. The movement is catalogued as a 17 1/2-ligne gilded brass calibre with a going barrel and a lateral equilibrated lever escapement. Additional reported mechanical features include a cut bimetallic compensated balance with gold poising screws, a blued steel hairspring with terminal curve, a polished steel index-regulator, and polished rose gold end-pieces on the escape wheel and lever.

Identification

Serial number

1 775

Source note

Facts transcribed from the linked source listing or collection record. Attribution and specifications are source-reported and have not been independently authenticated.

Catalogue references

No catalogue numbers recorded. Numbers are only published once transcribed from a verified edition of a standard catalogue — they are never inferred.