Unique, museum-quality artifact of Genevan watchmaking art in 18K 750 gold, set with diamonds and featuring elaborate enamel miniature painting, crafted over weeks of handwork. It is presumably a unique piece, custom-made with this specific motif:
Colondre & Schnee Geneve Men's Pocket Watch 18K 750 Gold with Jeweler's Certificate and Full Overhaul in 2023; there is no better condition for a luxury watch of this age
Description:
Pocket watch with enamel picture and 4 diamonds, 750 GG, approx. 1840, marked Colondre & Schnee Geneve
Solid 18K gold case with an antiquarian portrait of a lady, possibly the Greek goddess Helena, crafted over weeks by hand in miniature enamel painting, often with brushes featuring only a single hair, of truly highest, almost unique quality, detail, and finesse of representation
Helena's helmet is set with four high-quality diamonds
Case diameter: 35 mm, cylinder escapement, case and crown stamped K18, key wind
White, unrestored enamel dial with hardly visible hairline cracks, which is completely normal for its age, Roman numerals, Breguet hands, case number: 12751, total weight: 31.6 g
Enamel picture with minor, also barely visible hairline cracks or scratches. For the era, a high-quality gilded Swiss Ebauche movement with early fine regulation, immaculately clean after a full overhaul approximately 2 years ago
The luxury watch manufacturer Colondre & Schnee in the watchmaking mecca of Geneva seems to have existed for only a few years; we could not research any information on this small manufacturer
In Geneva during this era, there was a multitude of smaller, highly specialized watch manufacturers that focused on refining, improving, and finishing — in the most exquisite way, here with diamonds and enamel miniature painting — purchased gold cases and ebauche movements, usually on customer order, as is evident in the museum-quality artifact of this offering
Most of these custom-made pieces are unique and were built only once according to customer specifications. Such high-quality artifacts, each requiring several weeks to produce, were too elaborate and too expensive to be manufactured "in stock" in the hope that a buyer would like the chosen, mostly historical, miniature painting
The museum-quality artifact starts and runs (accuracy not tested) and comes with a certificate from Jeweler Hüther Saarbrücken from November 2023, as well as proof of complete overhaul and cleaning of the watch at the same time
The overhaul alone of such a rare piece and museum-quality artifact costs at least €750 from a master watchmaker; the 18K scrap gold value is - as of end of March 2026 - approx. €500 plus the value of the 4 diamonds
The unique, museum-quality artifact starts and runs (accuracy not tested)
Condition Rating: 1-2 due to age, excellently preserved, best technical condition after a complete overhaul only 2 years ago, only minimal, barely visible traces on the dial and miniature painting
