Almost nothing is known about the watchmaker except that he made at least three of these unusual square-plated watch movements. The watchmaker Balthazar Martinot, working in Paris between about 1661 and 1697, also made square-plated movements, two of them in cases almost identical to this one, that have been attributed to the Paris goldsmith Isaac Bergeron. Bergeron is recorded making
watchcases in 1671, but the Museum’s watch is earlier by perhaps as much as a decade or more. The back of the case is made of blued steel overlaid with gold in an openwork floral design that is reminiscent of the even more exquisite case of Louis XIV’s watch displayed here.