This watch is one of the very few known examples of a miniature watch with concealed erotic scenes, it is also probably the smallest and one of the earliest known examples. Most of the surviving examples of these watches were made by James Cox, and another miniature watch (measuring 23 mm.) with erotic scenes entitled ?The Persuasion? was sold by Antiquorum Geneva, The Sandberg Collection, March 31, 2001, Lot 106. Although the movement is signed ?J. Robert, London?, it is certainly made in Geneva. In the late 18th century, London was an important hub for international commerce, and particularly commerce with the Chinese market. The city?s aura was such that pieces marked with the word ?London? commanded much higher prices than others. Leschot states this very matter-of-factly in a letter to Louis George in Berlin dated February 13, 1793: ?As for the bird snuff box that you mention, it was no doubt made in our workshop. As I had the honor of informing you several years ago ? we always had the name engraved as if they came from England, because of the general opinion that everything that is made in that country is better made, more refined and sturdier than elsewhere, but in fact, they are made in my workshop and if you buy them directly from me you will pay a better price than if you go to someone else.? The enamel paintings are to be compared with those on a watch by James Cox, sold by Antiquorum, Geneva, The Sandberg Collection, March 31, 2001, Lot 105. They are likely to be by the same artist and are of a type so beloved by the Chinese market. The present watch must be one of the smallest to be made in the 18th Century, indeed, even in the 19th Century watchmakers rarely managed to make watches below 16 mm., very few at 14 mm and the smallest ever at 9.02 mm. At 17mm., this watch is possibly unique for the period. A miniature verge watch with a movement measuring 14mm, was sold by Antiquorum Geneva, December 14, 2002, Lot 278, this was considered to be one of the smallest verge watch movements ever made ? the present watch is even smaller at 13.55 mm. The making of miniature watches has always been a challenge for watchmakers. Many have vied with each other to produce ever smaller mechanisms enabling them to boast of making "The World's Smallest Watch". The earliest known surviving example is a tiny gold and enamel clockwatch by an unknown German maker dating from circa 1610. This remarkable watch had once belonged to Queen Elizabeth of Bohemia (The Winter Queen) and was sold as part of the Harcourt Collection at Sotheby's London in 1992. Breguet famously made a small number of miniature watches with keyless winding, these watches measuring only 18 mm. were certainly the smallest watches with keyless winding and hand-setting produced by any firm before the mid-19th Century. An example was sold by Antiquorum Geneva on 20th October 1991, Lot 263. The world's smallest tourbillon by Fritz-Andre Robert Charrue of Le Locle and dated 1945 was sold at Antiquorum, 12th April 2003, Lot 559.