126,500 HKD
B. Haas Jeune, Geneva, No. 15690, circa 1890.Very fine and rare 18K gold hunting-cased, keyless two time zone, quarter-repeating watch wound by closing the front cover. Notes In 1873 Benjamin Haas patented an interesting winding mechanism (English patent No. 3945 of Dec 2, 1873). The initial idea was progressively improved, and the one employed in this watch is a well-developed system with a 36-hour power reserve achieved by twelve closings. To accomplish this, Haas changed the going train, adding an additional wheel (described in detail above), which allowed him three-hour winding by a single closing. He also designed a safety device disengaging the mechanism when flly wound, which was necessary to prevent damage to the cover. The design was quite successful, and Haas employed it in some of his best watches, mostly with complications. This watch having an additional second time zone mechanism, extremely well-finished, punched with the Geneva Quality Mark, was apparently so highly regarded by Hass as to warrant the use of his patented winding system.
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2002-06-08
