355,500 CHF
Breguet, No. 2166, sold to Count Golovkin through Breguet's agent Moreau for 3000 francs, sale recorded on May 1, 1810.Exceptionally fine and rare 18K gold triple-train minute-repeating, Grande et Petite Sonnerie clockwatch made in the Garde Temps tradition, with independent trains for the time, striking and chiming, in a Breguet Morocco fitted box. Accompanied by a short gold chain and a certificate. Four-body, "Empire", engine-turned, gilt brass hinged cuvette, four apertures for winding, setting, grande/petite sonnerie lever, and striking/silent. Notes The watch combines a number of unusual features, among them the lateral lever escapement - Breguet usually favored a straight line escapement - and the advanced repetition system. The repetition system in this early 19th century watch, could be a prototype of the modern minute-repeating system, with the exception of the movable star. It employs a very long all-or-nothing lever (prevailing from striking when the piston is not pushed to the very end, and thus assuring that the repeating always coresponds to the correct hour). The long lever allows for just a slight movement of the star. The independent striking train is elegantly set on the back plate, allowing the owner the pleasure of observing the striking mechanism in action. The necessity of an independent train was due to the fact that the system based on a single train both for striking and repeating, disengaging one when the other was in operation, had not yet Read more…
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2003-04-12
