Antique French Memento Mori silver Skull shaped Verge Fusee pocket watch&fob

  

Antique French Memento Mori silver Skull shaped Verge Fusee pocket watch&fob. Ntique early 19th Century Antique French Memento Mori solid silver(950 purity) Skull shaped Verge Fusee pocket watch&matching solid silver fancy seal fob chain c1800's. The skull is made of solid silver, signed with the French hallmarks for 1st standart for 950 purity silver, which is higher than the Sterling silver! Also signed with the master's hallmark. The skull is engraved in Latin Mottos "Memento mori" and "Tempus fugit".

Fine solid gold dial with Roman numbers and blue steel Breguet hands. The watch comes with a matching key. 50mm high, 35mm in diameter.

The watch has a high grade French Verge Fusee fire gilt key wind movement with hand pierced balance cock. Do not expect a quartz accuracy from 220 years old watch. This is a collectors piece, not a precision daily time keeper.

Memento mori jewelry is the name given to sixteenth through eighteenth-century jewelry that was created as a reminder of the inevitability of death and the need to live piously. Translation from the Latin, remember you must die, is very clearly indicative of the objective of the theme. Skulls, skeletons, and coffins, often worked in gold and enamel were the predominant motifs vividly illustrating the underlying sentiment of pending mortality. An important part of the memento mori jewel was the use of text to express thoughts of death, mortality, remembrance, and religion. Composed in Latin, French or English they were either engraved or enameled on the outside of a jewel or secretly on the inside, viewable only by the intended recipient. Rings were the most common form of memento mori jewels although they could also take the form of lockets, pendants, and brooches. The sixteenth century saw an increase in bequests for mourning rings. Often these were just plain bands engraved with a sentiment referencing the departed sometimes specifically outlined in the will. In the mid-seventeenth century, the theme merged with memorial jewelry and it became popular to have the hair of the departed person, along with relevant dates and initials worked into the piece alongside the skull, coffin symbols and message.

The tradition flourished in the eighteenth century but the name of the individual being memorialized became more prominent, the mourning motifs became somewhat less gruesome and the use of intricate hairwork and elaborate allegories were de rigueur. NOTE:PLEASE OBSERVE CAREFULLY THE PHOTOS! IT IS A SIGNIFICANT PART OF THE DESCRIPTION.

Every potencial defect which is shown in the photos, but not mention in the description, will be considered for described. All the photos shoot by professional Nikon 105 Macro lens under 40x diopter magnification, so you can explore even the smallest detail like under microscope! Get images that make Supersized seem small. Tailor your auctions with Auctiva's. The item "Antique French Memento Mori silver Skull shaped Verge Fusee pocket watch&fob" is in sale since Monday, March 9, 2020.

This item is in the category "Jewelry & Watches\Watches, Parts & Accessories\Watches\Pocket Watches". The seller is "riaerica2000" and is located in Sofia. This item can be shipped worldwide.