Hello Jeremy,
Thank you for sending in this pocket watch to mearto.com for an appraisal. I shall try to help you with that tonight.
TITLE:
Art Nouveau, Silver and brass, key wound and key set, open face pocket watch with fancy silvered dial, cuvette marked for Le Roy, Paris, retailed by a Parisian jeweler, but made in Switzerland for export, circa 1880-1890s
DESCRIPTION:
Case: 50mm diameter, three leaf, 0.800% silver (less than coin silver which is 0.900% silver), with silver ball pendant and round bow placed at the twelve position, the back cover engraved with a plethora of foliate designs while the inside of the cover carries case number 16246 and a fuzzy hallmark which should be a grouse within a shaped cameo (the Swiss 0.800 % silver hallmark) but next to that is a poincon d’essai (mark of quality) starting from December 1852 in the canton of Neuchatel Switzerland where the watch was made. The canton government attests that there is a least 0.800% silver in this case. The greenish tinge to the inside of the cover attests to the presence of 10% copper which when oxidized to cupric oxide takes on a green coloration. The cuvette is an alloy of brass and has a high copper content as well which accounts for the green patches on the inside of the cuvette or movement cover. The outside is engraved as follows (translated), “No. 16246, cylinder escapement, four jeweled pivots, Le Roy Paris”. One very good thing is that both covers, and the cuvette number are in agreement. Notice that in the three knuckle hinges the two outer knuckles are silver and the cuvette knuckle is brass.
Dial: This is a silvered metal dial with black enameled Roman hour chapter ring, with circular open ringlet minute markers and two circular rows of engine turned dots marking the hour chapter ring. There is a silvered guilloche subsidiary seconds dial @6, and the dial center is engraved fully with foliate engravings, all typical of the Art Nouveau era in Europe and in American from c. 1880-1910, stressing the beautiful qualities of nature. There are fine blued steel Continental style spade hands and the dial is unsigned.
Movement: this is a late 19th/early 20th century traditional Swiss manufactured movement with a straight partial barrel wheel bridge, curved center wheel bridge and two straight and parallel small finger bridges along with the swiss made regulator, three arm, mono-metallic balance wheel and the regulator is marked in French initials for faster and slower, A & R. the movement is unsigned.
CONDITION:
Case – Fair with signs of oxidation and discoloration throughout the back cover and the brass cuvette. The engraving on the back cover is good but rather shallow and not done like the French could do it. There are no French hallmarks here. The use of the name “Le Roy, Paris” at the end of the 19th century was a name that was not used by any single French watch company at the time. Actually, Le Roy, Paris is thought to be a term that came into reality in the second half of the 20th century (will explain below). The French retailers tended to use famous 18th century watchmakers names on their watches in the 19th century as a form of false advertising.
Dial: Good with no specific damage but little contrast and much wear to the black enameled numerals. Hands are original.
Movement – Good. A very traditional, low jeweled, cylinder escapement movement without any real complications of special ornamentation.
HISTORY:
Regarding the name “Leroy” or Le Roy, Paris on the dial. The history of the Le Roy families is quite complex, and rather than going back over the three families of that name, let me just quickly summarize each and look at their status during the late Victorian years of 1880-1900, when this clock was made. The firms still in business in Paris were:
(1) Theodore Marie Leroy born 1827 in Argenteuil and died in 1899 in Paris. He was in the business of making carriage clocks, winning a silver
medal for them in 1867, and was the most significant Leroy of the three makers during that era. Ultimately, his business developed along the lines of making marine chronometers and retailing clocks.
(2) Founded by Basile Charles Le Roy circa 1785. The business name when joined by his son in 1828 was “Le Roy & Fils; Fils”. The business was sold to a Casmir Desfontaines in 1845 with the proviso being that the name would
remain unchanged. Louis Leroy (son of Theodore Marie Leroy) joined the firm in 1889 when the name was changed to ‘Ancienne Maison Le Roy & Fils, L. Leroy & Fils; Cie Successeurs’. By 1900 the Ancienne Maison Le Roy & Fils was dropped and the name used was, ‘L. Leroy & Fils; Cie’. Their main products were carriage clocks and most likely retailing other clocks, those not made by them. The use of the trading name ‘Leroy’ was not used by this firm until just after the mid-20th century.
(3) Founded by watchmaker Theodore Leroy (no relation to Theodore Marie Leroy) in 1813. In partnership with Auguste-Pierre Lepaute in 1827 and the firm was named “Leroy &Fils; Fils” in 1839. Theodore sold out to M. Fraigneau in 1843 and the business name remained the same. Subsequently the firm was sold to Schaefer in 1871, Clericetti in 1883 and Thomas Garnier in
1924, all under the same name, “Leroy & Fils; Fils”. This firm primarily was known for making carriage clocks and watches, and were more watchmakers than clockmakers.
(4) - Using the name ‘Leroy’ on the dial was most often seen on clock dials made in France by firms that had nothing to do with any of the families
listed above. One of the means of advertising used by French clockmakers, jewelers and retailers in the second half of the 19th century was to use famous French clockmakers and watchmakers’ names from the 17th & 18th centuries on their dials as a means of persuading the clients to purchase their merchandise. Finally, let me state that there was no known firm with an officially listed name as “Leroy” of Paris during the years of the second half of the 19th century. If a Leroy or a Le Roy made the clock movement, there would be a mark indicating that at the base of the rear plate of the movement. The use of ‘Leroy’ may not have been challenged by the firms from the genuine families of that name. They may have simply viewed it as a form of more free advertising of their own brand.
COMPARABLES:
~https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/42365250_a-french-silver-and-enamel-pocket-watch-signed-le-roy (SOLD FOR $112 IN 2015)
~https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/51883152_le-roy-paris-hunters-case-pocket-watch (SOLD IN 2017 FOR $100)
~https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/69935536_leroy-et-cie-paris-of-pocket-watch (POCKET WATCH WITH CHRONOGRAPH SOLD IN 2019 FOR $225)
~https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/10450884_124-rare-old-etched-le-roy-paris-pocket-watch-parts (This is a dial and cuvette that sold in 2011 for $5, with an interesting commentary by the auctioneer.)
~https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/10145692_109-ultra-rare-antique-le-roy-paris-pocketwatch-engrav (Similar to above, but dial, cuvette and movement (same as yours) together sold for $60)
PRICING:
I believe the fair market value of your watch in today’s demanding watch market would lie in the range of $100-$150. I am sorry it could not be worth more than that since it is genuine and original but made to originally deceive the French buyer into thinking they were buying a watch made by a descendant of Julian LeRoy. However, I am merely the messenger here. These famous names pop up on both watches and clocks as well, and the history that I provided I came to over the years of reading about all of the Leroys working in France and how their various businesses existed through the 18, 19th and even through the 20th century.
Thank you again for choosing mearto.com for your appraisal.
My best,
David