22,500 CHF
Lépine Dumb Quarter Repeating Watch with Virgule Escapement Lépine, Hger du Roy a Paris, Invenit et Fecit, No. 2190. Made circa 1780. Fine and very rare, quarter-repeating à toc, 18K gold and enamel pocket watch with virgule escapement and Lepine’s special opening mechanism. Two-body, by Guillaume Mermillod, bezel decorated with white enamel "pearls" and ovals and translucent enamel green leaves, the back with green translucent guilloche enamel, central rosette, outer border to match the bezel, Lepine’s special opening mechanism activated by twisting the pendant. Hinged gilt cuvette. White enamel with radial Arabic numerals, outer minute track and Arabic five minute numerals. Gold Louis hands. Gilt brass, standing barrel, virgule escapement, three-arm brass balance, blued steel flat balance spring, index regulator, repeating à toc activated by depressing the pendant. Dial and cuvette signed, case with Guillaume Mermillod’s punch mark. Diam. 36 mm. Notes Lépine was the first maker in France to use Arabic numerals for the hours in place of the traditional Roman chapters. This watch is a good example of this new style of dial. Jean-Antoine Lépine (1720-1814) was born in Challex, a village north of Geneva and arrived in Paris in 1744. A workman for King's Clockmaker André Charles Caron, he married Caron's daughter in 1756 and was received Master in 1765. Around 1765 he became King's Clockmaker, and in 1766 he succeeded Caron. , In 1772, Lépine was in the Place Dauphin
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2011-03-27
