Vintage silver musical automata pocket watch by Reuge

This watch was made in the 1980s by the Swiss company Reuge.

It is unusual to find these watches in a silver case. They are normally in a gold plated case. This has clear assay marks for silver (0.925) on the inside and back cover

The watch has a musical automata on the dial – to hear and see this play please click on the video in this listing.

Movement – the watch has a wrist watch lever movement with an alarm function signed “Pontifa, 17 Jewels, Unadjusted, Swiss”. The movement is in 100% mint condition

Also in the base is a pin and comb musical box which is key wound

Case – the movement comes in a silver open face case, which has a snap on inner and a hinged strut back, allowing it to stand upright on a desk. The case has deep coin edged sides and is engraved with crisp engraving showing a lute and bagpipes. The inner cover is signed “Reuge a Saint-Croix” with a hole for winding the music box and a button to activate it. The case is numbered 593. The case is in 99% mint condition – the majority of the case is in crisp mint condition but there are some scratches on the inner cover

Dial – the mixed media dial has a white enamel dial with gilt hands and an alarm hand. The dial is decorated with a pastoral scene in the foreground are gilt figures in high relief of a man on horse back holding a dove in his hand and a lady attending the pump at the water bath. When the music plays, the gents hand moves upwards, the head of the horse bows down to the water bath. Simultaneously the lady pulls the handle of the water pump and the water pours from the spout into the bath

The dial is signed “Reuge, 17 Jewels, Swiss Made” and is in 100% mint condition.

The automata will play on request if you press the button down on the inner. It stops as soon as you release pressure. For a longer play, set the hands on the alarm and when the alarm function is activated the automata will play until the music box winds down

The watch measures 57mm wide on the dial, 76mm long inc bow x 21mm deep

The watch is stem wound / stem set and key wound and comes with its original key (not shown)

The watch has a synthetic glass