165,200 HKD
“Alpine Village Scene” Henry Grandjean & Co. , Locle, No. 38687, enamel probably by Rosselet. Made for S. Fairburn, Mexico in 1891. Very fine and rare hunting-cased 14K yellow gold and painted on enamel enamel keyless pocket watch with chronograph and instantaneous 30-minute register. Six-body, "bassine", heavy, the back with a polychrome enamel scene depicting an Alpine village with a mill along a river in the foreground and the Mont Blanc in the background, pushbutton at 12 o’clock for stop/start, Front cover with enamel monogram “SF”, gold hinged cuvette over hinged glazed gold bezel for viewing the movement. White enamel, radial Roman numerals, outer minute track, outermost chronograph ring with fiveminute Arabic figures, sunk subsidiary seconds and 30-minute counter. Blued steel spade hands. 20’’’, nickel, "fausses côtes"decoration, 25 jewels, straight line lever escapement, cut-bimetallic compensation balance, Breguet balance spring. Dial, case and movement signed. Diam. 52 mm. Property of an Italian Gentleman Notes Henry Grandjean was one of the first to enter the South American Market. He was also one of the first to manufacture marine chronometers in Switzerland, and was an initiator of the Neuchâtel Observatory. Grandjean received a First Class medal at the 1851 Universal Exposition in London. In 1868 the company won an award for its marine chronometers. Henry died in 1879 but it appears that the company continued until 1899, the year in which Rossel & Fils
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2003-06-02
