29,900 CHF
Breguet et Fils, No. 4988, case No. 1075, sold to Comte de Gourieff, on June 17, 1841 for 1400 Francs. Very fine and rare, Simple Garde Temps, silver pocket chronometer. Three-body, massive, “forme quatre baguettes” by Amy Joly, No. 1075, engine-turned, gold hinges. Detachable gilt brass cuvette. White enamel by Droz (signed on the enamel back) with radial Roman numerals and subsidiary seconds at the top of the dial. Blued steel Breguet hands. 21’’’, gilt brass full plate with cylindrical pillars, fusee with chain and maintaining power, the back plate relieved for the barrel, spring detent escapement, two-arm bimetallic compensation balance with poising weights and timing screws, diamond end-stone, free sprung blued steel helical balance spring with terminal curves. The dial signed “Breguet”, the cuvette signed “Breguet Neveu et Cie, and the movement signed “Breguet Fils” and numbered. Notes This watch is an example of the final development of pocket chronometers by Breguet. A single barrel with fusee have replaced the twin barrel calibre of the earlier type and the movement is of a more robust construction throughout. By the year 1818, when it was designed, English chronometer makers, particularly Earnshaw, had begun to produce such instruments in substantial numbers and supply them to both merchant and naval shipping. The advantage gained by the use of an accurate timekeeper for navigation was significant in the struggle between countries for trading superiority, and
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2005-10-16
