Striking ornamental Geneva gold and enamel pocket watch by Vaucher.
Striking ornamental Geneva gold and enamel pocket watch by Vaucher with jumping center seconds. The back side of the watch is decorated with a painting on enamel representing a bouquet of flowers.
The watch has been made by famous watch company Vaucher Frères in Fleurier.
Geneva, ca. 1830.
Diameter : 56 mm.
Gold, enamel and rose-cut diamond-set pocket watch with a concealed dial designed as a beetle.
Gold, enamel and rose-cut diamond-set pocket watch with a concealed dial designed as a beetle.
Geneva, ca. 1880.
21 x 53 mm.
Important and rare one-handed pre-balance verge pocket watch in the form of a tulip bud, signed Jean Rousseau.
Important and rare one-handed pre-balance verge pocket watch in the form of a tulip bud, signed Jean Rousseau (1606 – 1684). He is from a renowned watchmaking family in Geneva.
Now in the Patek Philippe Museum, Geneva, Switzerland.
Geneva, ca. 1650.
Diameter : 37 x 29 mm.
Unique bronze sculpture by the artist Victor Demanet.
TO THE RESCUE BY VICTOR DEMANET
Description : To the Rescue » depicting two haulers at work. Haulers were individuals who pulled boats along rivers and canals. Hauling was a widely used technique before the invention of boat engines. In this case, it refers to « bricole » hauling; « bricole » is the name for the leather harness that haulers used to tow the boats.
The Belgian sculptor Victor Demanet
Victor Demanet, a notable Belgian sculptor, achieved multiple awards during his career, including recognition for his bronze sculpture « To the Rescue » at the 1925 Paris Salon and a Gold Medal for « Metallurgy » at the 1930 Liège International Exhibition. He created various statues of King Albert I and Princess Astrid for different cities, along with other monuments featuring historical figures. Influenced by Constantin Meunier, Demanet’s socially engaged art focused on depicting workers. His sculpture « To the Rescue » portrays two generations of haulers, symbolizing themes of life, sharing, and assistance, inviting viewers to interpret its meaning beyond surface representation.
Material : Bronze sculpture. Low wax casting by Batardy.
Period : 1925
Dimensions : 72 x 42 x 98 cm
An exquisite double-sided verge pocket watch with indications of day, date and month by Jean-François and Georges Achard from Geneva.
An exquisite double-sided verge pocket watch with indications of day, date and month by Jean-François and Georges Achard from Geneva. Case No. 7.
The front shows the current month in addition to hours and minutes; on the back date and day of the week (i.e., the symbol of the day’s planet in red) are displayed.
Georges Achard was master watchmaker in Geneva; together with his brother Jean-Francois he started a company for the production of enamel watches with additional options. The company existed until 1796. The brothers Jean-Francois & Georges Achard were suppliers for Breguet.
Swiss, ca. 1790.
Diameter : 51 mm.
Weight : 102 g.
A gold and enamel verge pocket watch of museum quality, with quarter repeater and the invention of Le Roy « à batte levée ».
A gold and enamel verge pocket watch of museum quality, with quarter repeater and the invention of Le Roy « à batte levée ». Le Roy developed a new arrangement of the repeater mechanism which gave him more rooms for the construction – this is one of the first pieces where he used this novel concept.
In 1740 Julien Le Roy developed a new arrangement for repeater watches which enlarged the annular frame. The cover was removed and the dial was fitted with a kind of cup that held the repeater mechanism. This construction reduced the size of the watch and gave it a new and more elegant appearance; soon Le Roy’s invention was adopted by other makers too.
The case is intricately ornamented with engraved, naturalistic gold flower and leaf garlands on engine-turned ground with translucent green enamelling. Open-worked volute cartouches near the rim serve as sound holes and two diamond-studded buttons open the case.
Julien Le Roy (1686 -1759) was one of the most outstanding clock- and watchmakers of his time and certainly played a decisive part in establishing the leading role French clockmaking had in the 18th century. He was born in Tours, and was trained under his father Pierre Le Roy. In 1699 Julien Le Roy went to Paris where he served his apprenticeship under Le Bon. He became a master in 1713, presented an equation clock to the Académie Royale des Sciences in 1717, and was appointed clockmaker to the king in 1739 (with his own rooms at the Louvre).
Le Roy invented the adjustable bracket for the verge escapement wheel (« potence »), the repetition strike on springs instead of bells for pocket watches, and the « all-or-nothing » piece for repeating watches. His inventions and improvements were of such extreme importance that most watchmakers adopted them promptly for their own pieces. Later Le Roy was director of the Société des Arts; he and his son supplied the entries on watches and clocks in the encyclopaedia compiled by Diderot and d’Alembert.
Julien Le Roy’s work can be found among the world’s greatest collections including the Musées du Louvre, Cognacq-Jay, Jacquemart-André and the Petit Palais in Paris. Other examples are housed in the Château de Versailles, the Victoria and Albert Museum and Guildhall in London, Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire, the Musée d’Horlogerie in La Chaux-de-Fonds, the Museum der Zeitmessung Beyer, Zurich, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Musées Royaux d’Art et d’Histoire in Brussels, the Museum für Kunsthandwerck, Dresden, the National Museum in Stockholm, the Musea Nacional de Arte Antigua, Lisbon, the J. P. Getty Museum in California; the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore and the Detroit Institute of Art.
French, ca. 1740.
Diameter : 48 mm.
Weight : 135 g.
An important, large Breguet Souscription watch with ruby cylinder escapement and cylinder made by Abraham-Louis Breguet himself.
An important, large Breguet Souscription watch with ruby cylinder escapement and cylinder made by Abraham-Louis Breguet himself (noted in the company records as « Cilindre B ») – sold to a friend of Monsieur Azara on 24 Thermidor An 11 (= 12th of August 1803) for 600 Francs – with certificate no. 4505.
Don José Nicolás de Azara (5 December 1730 – 26 January 1804) was a Spanish diplomat. He was appointed in 1765 Spanish agent and procurator-general, and in 1785 ambassador at Rome. During his long residence there he distinguished himself as a collector of Italian antiquities and as a patron of art. In March 1798 he became Spanish ambassador in Paris. In that post it was his misfortune to be forced by his government to conduct the negotiations which led to the Treaty of San Ildefonso, by which Spain was wholly subjected to Napoleon. Azara was friendly to a French alliance, but his experience showed him that his country was being sacrificed to Napoleon. The First Consul liked him personally, and found him easy to influence. Azara died, worn out, in Paris in 1804. His end was undoubtedly embittered by his discovery of the ills which the French alliance must produce for Spain. His younger brother Félix de Azara (1746–1821) was a noted naturalist in South America.
In silver, with the gold rims being the only decoration, the souscription watches were of a large diameter allowing the enamel dial to be divided in such a way that both hours and minutes could be read from a single hand.
The movements had a single plate, the spring barrel mounted in the centre and the wheels elegantly positioned and retained by bridges. The single hand was driven directly off the barrel arbor, eliminating the motion work and the intendant friction, and the ruby cylinder escapement was fitted with a parachute (shock protector) and a compensation curb to assist in correcting temperature errors; features that were the norm for all of Breguet’s first class watches.
To further reduce the selling price, Breguet decided to produce these watches in small series (between 12 and 20 examples at a time), with the buyers paying an account of 25% in advance and the balance on completion. Hence the term: de souscription (by subscription). The success of these watches enabled Breguet to both reestablish his business, which had understandably been badly affected by the French Revolution and his exile in Switzerland, and to finance much of his research into other areas of horology.
French, 1803.
Diameter : 62 mm.
Weight : 136 g.
A lady’s prestigious gold and enameled purse, made by Brandt, with concealed watch, set with diamonds.
A lady’s prestigious gold and enameled purse, made by Brandt, with concealed watch, set with diamonds. The purse has its original tortoiseshell box and is signed Brandt Genève.
The exquisite case has the form of a purse and opens up to show three cloth-lined compartments. Front and back are decorated with engraved floral motifs and lovingly chased ornamentation. The front has a hinged spring lid that conceals the watch. It is finely decorated with translucent cobalt blue enamel and engraved flower tendrils with diamonds representing the petals.
Swiss, ca. 1850.
68 x 52 x 17 mm.
Weight : 77 g.
A decorative gold enamel verge pocket watch by Blanc frères, studded with half pearls in the original silk-lined morocco case of the Scotish jeweller Hamilton & Inches, 88 Princes Street, Edinburgh.
A decorative gold enamel verge pocket watch by Blanc frères, studded with half pearls in the original silk-lined morocco case of the Scotish jeweller Hamilton & Inches, 88 Princes Street, Edinburgh.
Large lustrous split pearls lend a luxurious elegance and a soft, smooth feel to this watch. The pearls surround the enamel dial, which has vertically aligned Roman numerals and pearl-studded hands on the front and an exquisite blue and white enamel medallion with a rosette decorated with paste stones on the back. The luminous blue of the enamel is enhanced by the engine-turned pattern and the outer opalescent white and opaque dark blue frame with gold floral paillon ornamentation – a marvelous timepiece in remarkable condition. Design and quality equal the work of the great William Anthony in London.
Swiss, ca. 1790.
Diameter : 51 mm.
Weight : 88 g.
A four-colour gold box of museum quality with concealed watch under the spring-loaded lid « Fait par Jaques Argand » (made by Jaques Argand).
A four-colour gold box of museum quality with concealed watch under the spring-loaded lid « Fait par Jaques Argand » (made by Jaques Argand).
The box is all over decorated with engine-turned pattern of fine horizontal lines and geometric engraving near the edges. Lid and base each have a central oval cartouche with chased motifs: book, cross, serpent, chalice and palm leaves surrounded by lavish flower garlands. The sides are similarly ornamented with four oval medallions containing flowers, fruit, sheets of music and other objects. Pushing a small button on the case opens a small jumping lid in the centre and reveals the dial. The lid itself opens too and exposes the exquisitely decorated movement with the small dial in the centre.
Baillie’s « Watchmakers & Clockmakers of the World » lists Jacques Argand as an important maker in Geneva in the mid 18th century. He was born in 1733 and died in 1782.
The case is stamped with a crowned « PG » mark and was created in the workshop of renowned jeweller Philippe Gervais (1734-1796), who was a native of Hanau; he moved to Geneva in 1761. Two years after being made a citizen, he became a master and presented a diamond-set gold and enamel snuff box as his masterpiece. On February 26, 1764 he married a Swiss woman by the name of Gabrielle Rey; the couple had three children. Gervais died on August 19, 1796 in Geneva.
Philippe Gervais is famous for his many objects of vertu that have integrated watches, such as snuff boxes or gold and enamel chatelaines. A small bottle with the mark « PG » was part of the illustrious Lord Sandberg Collection and is described and illustrated in: « The Sandberg Watch Collection », by Terence Camerer-Cuss, pp. 382-383.
An amazing singingbird automaton scent flask with timepiece by Jaquet-Droz Leschot and Frisard, also stamped PG has been sold at Sotheby’s New York on the 11th of June 2015 for 2.530.000,00 $.
Swiss, ca. 1760.
79 x 60 x 38 mm.
Weight : 206 g.
