Watch case probably ca. 1650-60, movement ca. 1680 Watchmaker: Nicolas Gribelin (the Younger) Nicolas Gribelin, a member of a large family of clockmakers active in Blois from the late sixteenth through the seventeenth century, is recorded working in Paris for Philippe, duc d’Orléans (1640-1701), brother of Louis XIV, as early as 1674. With the invention of the balance spring in 1675, a few watchmakers attempted to use the balance spring alone for regulating the mainspring by discarding the fusee. As timekeepers, these movements were not very successful, but the lace-like ornament of the silver cock and the delicately made steelwork for winding the mainspring of this watch can be prized as much for their aesthetic qualities as for their usefulness. The enamel on the cover of the case is a miniature version of a painting of Antony and Cleopatra by Sébastien Bourdon (1616-1671).. Watch 194150