Dimier Frères & Cie Chinese Market Enamel Pocket Watch
Inventory Number: PW1809021
Made in Switzerland circa 1850, 55mm. Gilt brass open-face case with painted enamel and pearl-set bezel. The painted enamel scene depicts flower bouquets on a solid light blue ground. This type of motif is one of the most popular subjects for the Chinese market. Dimier Frères & Cie was also one of the Swiss watchmakers active in the Chinese market in the 19th century.
Brand History
Jean Antoine Dimier (1795-1863) founded Dimier & Cie. in Geneva in the early 19th century. Later records show that around 1835 the company had its premises at Rue Croix d'Or 27. Dimier specialized in miniature pocket watches in gold and enamel or gilt brass cases that were often decorated with floral enamel ornaments and pearls; the watches were usually intended for the Chinese market. As the Chinese customers usually preferred large and impressive watches, Dimier’s miniature timepieces were a rarity in their time.
Jean-Antoine Dimier’s two sons, Charles- Louis (1822-1896) and Auguste-Antoine (1824-1891), the brothers graduated from the Collège de Genève and were then initiated into the art of watchmaking in a factory at Chaux-de- Fonds. Auguste worked as a watchmaker; his brother Charles was a sales director. Charles moved to Canton around 1846 and established the company Dimier & Cie with a special Chinese trademark pronounced Tien Ye(點耶), and Auguste was in charge of the production. Trading was discontinued in 1860, presumably because of the war in China. Charles eventually returned to Switzerland and in 1862 the two brothers moved the business from Fleurier to Geneva.
Glossary of Material Terms
Enamel
A vitreous substance whose main component is silica mixed with oxides (transition metals) that create a vast palette of colors. Enamel is used to decorate metal surfaces, gold, silver, and copper.
Painting on the Enamel
A gold or copper plate is coated with base enamel then fired. The colors are in powder form which the enamel-painter dilutes as and when they are needed using an oily or semi-oily essence, before applying them with a fine brush. Each color is dried then fired before the next is applied. A work can be fired numerous times.
The Chinese market pocket watch is the pocket watch that specially made for the Chinese market in the 18th to 19th centuries by European watchmakers. It was originally used as a tribute to the Qing Dynasty royal family and spread among the public gradually. Many cases were generally made of silver, brass, gilt brass or silver, and decorated with painted enamel with pearls or precious jewels.
The movements are so-called “Chinese Caliber”, and many of them were engraved with beautiful patterns such as scrolled flowers and foliage, the designs were significantly recognizable. From the Chinese collectors ‘view, these kinds of pocket watches are called "The big-eight pieces”. (There is such a statement that the movement was usually designed to consist of a barrel and seven main components, eight pieces in total, and “eight" is considered as the homonym of "fortune" in Chinese, so they were gradually known as "The big-eight pieces" from the 19th century in Chinese.
