12,500 CHF
PIGUET & MEYLAN MUSICAL AND REPEATING WATCH WITH DOUBLE-WHEEL DUPLEX ESCAPEMENT Piguet et Meylan, Geneva, No. 335, also signed Janvier a Paris, 8/1818. Made circa 1820. Very fine, 18K gold, quarter-repeating, musical pocket watch with music playing on the hour or at will and double-wheel duplex escapement. Four-body, "Empire", engine-turned and polished, ribbed band, bolt at 1 o’clock to lock the repeat and at 7 to activate the music. Hinged gilt brass cuvette with apertures for winding and hand-setting. White enamel, Breguet numerals, outer minute track. Blued steel Breguet hands. Notes This watch by Piguet & Meylan has the unusual and rarely used doublewheel duplex escapement. The double wheel duplex originated in France and is particularly suited to thick watches, it found favor more in England than France for this reason. Breguet used this escapement in a small number of his watches. A scratched inscription in French on the dial plate beneath the musical teeth states: “The escapement of this watch was made by J.B. master horologer in 1826”. As this watch evidently passed through Janvier’s workshop, it is therefore possible that the escapement was upgraded there from the usual cylinder escapement found in this type of watch.
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2011-11-13
