Arlaud, a Huguenot refugee from the French Auvergne, was the first in a dynasty of Geneva watchmakers. He became a burgher in Geneva in 1617. The form of this watch and the scene of the Risen Christ, with the emblems of the Passion, are surely reminders of the brevity of life on earth and of the importance of the salvation of the soul.
Credit: Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
c. 1620-30
Case: rock crystal, with gilded silver mounts; dial: silver, partly gilded; movement: gilded brass and steel
4.8 x 3.2cm
17.190.1610
Image and text © Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2019
Where you'll find this
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Permanent collection