This attractive timepiece is one of the few enameled watches with repeating on a bell instead of the better known on the case set-up. The combination of a complex movement, a lavish case decorated with diamond-set bezels to both sides, diamond-set hands and a finely painted enamel miniature depicting a lady and her daughters, render it the perfect example of a watch made to special order, possibly for an oriental dignitary.

Gustave Adolphe (Gustaf Adolf) Adamson was the son of Godfried, a Swedish watchmaker. At the age of 26 he settled in Paris where he first worked at Place Dauphine. In 1788, he became a master and three years later, in 1791, watchmaker to the Royal Family when he moved to Cour des Moines near the Abbaye Saint Germain. From 1771 to 1775, he was a member of the Masonic Lodge Saint Louis de la Martinique et des Frères Réunis. Along with his compatriot André Hessen, he specialized in slim watches, sometimes with characteristic fully closed dust-protected movements. Adamson was active until around 1813.