80,500 HKD
Lepine, Horloger du Roy, Invenit et Fecit, No. 2042, with Paris hallmarks for 1775. Very fine and rare, 18 ct. gold and enamel, diamond-set, early quarter dumb repeating watch with wolf tooth train and special escapement. .". Hinged gilt brass cuvette. D. White enamel with Breguet numerals, number "1" in an oval frame. Gold Breguet hands. M. Gilt brass, early Lepine calibre with wolf tooth train of wheels and free standing barrel, virgule escapement, plain brass thr . Hinged gilt brass cuvette. D. White enamel with Breguet numerals, number "1" in an oval frame. Gold Breguet hands. Gilt brass, early Lepine calibre with wolf tooth train of wheels and free standing barrel, virgule escapement, plain brass three-arm balance, flat balance spring. Repeating on the case by depressing the pendant, with two polished hammers. Signed on the dial and the cuvette. In very good condition. Diam. 34 mm. Notes Fine example of a typical Lepine watch fitted with his main inventions: his case with concealed hinge, opening by twisting the pendant, his calibre with free standing barren, linear stopwork, and the virgule escapement, as described and illustrated by Moinet in Traité d'Horlogerie Moderne, pl. X. According to A. Chapiro, in his book: Lépine Horloger (1720- 1814) - Editions de l'amateur, p. 200, the Wolf tooth train was invented by Lepine circa 1771 in order to improve the gearing, but was scarcely used before 1787 and after 1789 on watches numbered 5200 to 5711. Only very fe
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
1996-06-03
