by Jacques Etienne Armand, French pocket watch style compass sundial in gold, white enamel compass, eight points and a magnetic variation scale, white enamelled dial plate supported by three gold struts, VI -XII, I- VI divided to 30 minutes, gold gnomon, signed Armand Paris. The case back appears as amethyst guilloche enamel, but close inspection suggests it is an amethyst glass cover over an engraved gold back. Notes: Armand was apprenticed to Canivet in 1747. His working dates are 1755-1780. We know of only one other instrument by Armand, a near identical dial in the National Maritime museum, but theirs is in gilt copper rather than solid gold.