Watch
In the nineteenth century, Swiss watchmakers routinely used gemstones with holes drilled in them to pivot the arbors of the wheels in watch movements that were subject to the greatest wear. Most significant, this watch is engraved on the inside cover of the movement with the number of rubies employed for this purpose: four. Developments in technology enabled pocket watches to become thinner and flatter in the nineteenth century, with Swiss firms at the forefront of their production.
Artwork Details
- Title: Watch
- Maker: Watchmaker: Abraham Vacheron (Swiss, 1760–1845)
- Maker: Firm of A. Vacheron Girod (Swiss, 1786–ca. 1732)
- Maker: later renamed Firm of Vacheron and Constantin (Swiss, 1755–present)
- Date: 1832
- Culture: Swiss, Geneva
- Medium: Case: partly gold, enamel, and silver; Movement: brass and steel with ruby endstones
- Dimensions: Diameter: 1 9/16 in. (4 cm)
- Classification: Horology
- Credit Line: Anonymous Gift, in memory of Lady May Fletcher-Moulton, 1926
- Object Number: 26.267.18
- Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
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Abraham Vacheron
Firm of Vacheron and Constantin
1832
Multiple artists/makers
ca. 1826–31
François Czapek
ca. 1850–55
Firm of Moricand & Degrange
ca. 1835
Firm of Moynier & Fils
ca. 1825
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