A rare 18ct gold… - The Norman Dean Collection of Important English and Continental Pocket Watches - Artvisory

Lot No.

***

Description:

A rare 18ct gold quarter-repeater pocket-watch, maker Breguet et Fils French Circa 1818. A rare 18ct gold quarter-repeater pocket-watch, maker Breguet et Fils. French Circa 1818. 18 carat gold French pair-cased quarter repeating watch. Both inner and outer cases finely. engine turned. Short circular pendant, round bow. The outer case fits so snugly around the. inner case that at first it is not apparent that it is pair-cased. The outer case is not marked. except for the number 3270 stamped on the inside of that case. The inner case bears French. hallmarks on the inside of the back cover, the numbers 2213 and 3270 with the letter "B". underneath it. Inscribed on the inside cover in script are the figures and word 'No 3270, Breguet". There is a winding hole in the inside cover with an arrow indicating the direction in. which the movement is to be wound. Matt gold dial with black Roman hour numerals. Blued steel moon hands, typically Breguet. Minute divisions marked with black dots. Signed on the inside of the chapter ring at 6o'clock. "Breguet et Fils" in small print. Breguet's "secret signature" appears on either side of the 12. numeral, "Breguet 3270" in minute print. There is an adjusting screw on the dial between 6. and the central Arbor. The movement has a duplex escapement and a balance spring without Breguet overcoil. There is parachute suspension to the balance wheel which has gold weights which are tapered. towards the head. The duplex wheel is a single wheel and not a double wheel as Breguet. generally used. The repeat mechanism is operated by pulling up the knob on the pendant, giving it a quarter. turn clockwise and then pressing it right down. The hours are struck on a gong, and the. quarters are struck on two gongs with different notes. Reference: Abraham Louis Breguet was born at Neuchatel in Switzerland in 1747. His family had a. French protestant background and fled France for sanctuary in Switzerland after the. revocation of the Edict of Nantes. He was 11 years old when his father died and some years. later his mother remarried, to a watchmaker of considerable repute. At about the age of 15 his. step-father sent him to Versailles in France to be apprenticed in the watch trade. In 1768 his. family and step-father returned to France and in 1775 he married into a wealthy family and he. set up home and business on the Quai d'Horloge and in 5 years his reputation was made. Then came the French Revolution and his flight back to Switzerland to escape the terror. He returned to France in 1795. Breguet was an inventive genius, and his list of inventions is extensive. He was not only a master craftsman but also had artistic flair. The name of his firm up until 1807 was simply Breguet but when he took his son Louis Antonio into partnership it changed to Breguet et Fils. Provenance: This watch was brought to Australia by Frederic Tait, thought to have a gallery of some sort in Melbourne. Tait left the watch to his nephew Edward Chetloe Eden of Middle Street, Cleveland and E.C. Eden wrote to Breguet in 1950. He left the watch to his son Edward Archibald Eden in about 1970. Purchased from Ted Eden in 1977 for $3,000.00. A copy of a letter addressed to E. C. Eden from the House of Breguet dated 20th September. 1950 states, as translated from the French, that the watch was sold to a Mr. Sine, valet, for the. sum of 1440 francs. Further correspondence follows and a Certificate of Authenticity could. not be obtained without taking the watch to the House of Breguet in Paris so that it could be. physically inspected. It would appear that the watch was initially made with a ruby cylinder. escapement and later converted to a duplex escapement; where, when and by whom is not. known.

Estimate:

***

Price:

***

Category:

Unclassified