Very unusual automaton verge

A very rare verge watch, with two automaton features on the painted dial and all in particularly good condition.

MOVEMENT : Gilt verge movement, with engraved and pierced balance bridge. Four round pillars, blued screws and large silver disk to the Tompion type regulator.

Unsigned but numbered 7467 to the dial plate.

Working, with both automaton features turning, and all in excellent condition.

DIAL : Polychrome enamel dial, showing a quite complicated farmyard scene. Beautifully painted, with a labourer working in front of the farmyard door, and tree and windmill in the background. The gilt sails of the windmill rotate and two farm workers and a horse pass behind the round window at the base of the dial.

The dial is in very good condition, with just a few very light scratches.

Very nice gilt or gold hands.

CASE : Silver, with a beautifully made gilt frieze around the band, and thick ribbing around the bezel and back
The movement number,7467, the case maker CB and the case number 8257 are all engraved on the inside of the back cover.

In very good condition throughout. The hinge is fine and the bezel snaps shut.

The high dome crystal has no scratches but a couple of tiny nibbles right on the edge.

The movement is unsigned, and although could be French, is more likely to have been made in Switzerland, in around 1800. Both English and Continental watches with automaton dials are rare, but even more so with two automaton features.