Ornate Watch, Music Box, and Automaton Dates Back to 1810

Dubois & Fils of Le Locle, Switzerland crafted an automaton watch around the year 1810.pic.twitter.com/lLSnJlUMwE

— 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐮𝐧𝐤 𝐓𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬 (@Steampunk_T) April 6, 2025

Sotheby's auction house once offered this amazing watch and automaton for sale. Dating back to 1810, the carefully preserved antique depicts an acrobat balancing on a tightrope while a woman plays a lute and a man plays a lyre. An internal cylinder plays a sequence of 33 notes.

It also tells the time.

DuBois et Fils (DuBois and Sons), a Swiss luxury watchmaker, produced the treasure. That firm is still in business. This watch is one of several similar devices that it made.