63,250 CHF
Breguet & Fil, Swiss, circa 1815. Very fine and rare 18K gold, quarter repeating, half skeletonized, wandering time watch. Double body, Directoire with reeded band and fixed bezel, the back engine-turned in a sunburst pattern. Gold, chased and engraved with a scene depicting Kronos in a barge, driven by Cupid, semicircular aperture on the upper part, the time is pointed by the hours, revolving in front of an enamel minute sector. fine gilt brass and blued steel, full plate, the blued steel back plate partly skeletonized to disclose part of the gold train of wheels, the going barrel with a gilt brass cover, pierced and engraved with scrolls, and the cylinder escapement with plain gold three-arm balance, polished steel bridge with ruby end-stone, flat balance spring. Repeating by depressing the pendant, with visible polished steel repeating work and blued steel gongs, partly gilt, in form of serpents. Signed on the dial. In very good condition. Notes On wandering hour watches, the time is shown by a digital jumping hour in an aperture, revolving within a semi-circular sector and pointing to the minutes engraved on the border. Two similar watches were sold by Antiquorum in Geneva, first on 18 October, 1992, lot 238, then on 21 April, 1996, lot 169. Such watches were invented towards the end of the 17th century. They were initially made as presentation watches in England and Germany, with the portrait or the coat-of-arms of the King, painted or engraved on the dial, below t Read more…
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
1997-04-12
