Important Modern & Vintage Timepieces

Hong Kong, Apr 28, 2019

LOT 504

HAAS POCKET WATCH WITH PATENTED WINDING-MECHANISM BY CLOSING THE COVER AND SEVEN HOROLOGICAL COMPLICATIONS, INCLUDING MINUTE-REPEATER, PERPETUAL CALENDAR WITH MOON PHASES AND TWO-TIME ZONE; 18K PINK GOLD

HKD 310,000 - 390,000

CHF 39,500 - 49,000 / USD 40,000 - 50,000

Sold: HKD 525,000

"Montre perpétuelle se remontant en regardant l'heure, Nouveau système Breveté" later so-called "Remontoir perpétuel à décrochement" 18K pink gold, double-faced hunting-case, keyless-winding, roundshaped, pocket watch, with subsidiary seconds at 9, patented winding-mechanism by closing the cover and seven horological complications: - Minute-repeater on two steel gongs (activated by the slide at 6 o'clock) The first dial features: - Hours and minutes of a second meridian, known as petit tour d'heure (subsidiary dial at 3 o'clock, time-setting by push-bolt at 12 o'clock) The second dial features: - Perpetual calendar - Date of the month (exterior graduation with central hand) - Day of the week (subsidiary dial at 9 o'clock; indications given in French) - Month of the year (subsidiary dial at 3 o'clock; indications given in French) - Age and phases of the moon (subsidiary dial, graduated from 0 to 29 1/2, and aperture at 12 o'clock) Winding-mechanism based on the French invention patent No. 77 124, delivered on July 13, 1867, to Benjamin Haas Jeune, Paris, for a "Système de remontoir applicable à tous genres d'échappements - Montre savonnette se remontant en regardant l'heure", later socalled "Remontoir perpétuel à décrochement", and, the English invention patent No. 3 945, delivered on December 2, 1873 (Windingmechanism, keyless mechanism). Perpetual calendar mechanism based on the English invention patent No. 2 870, delivered on September 30, 1872, to Benjamin Haas Jeune, Paris (Calendar mechanism).


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Grading System
Grade:
Case: 3

Good
Movement: 3*

Good

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense
Dial: 3-7101

Good

Brand Maison B. Haas Jeune

Model "Montre perpétuelle se remontant en regardant l'heure, Nouveau système Breveté"

Year circa 1875

Movement No. 13 760

Calibre  22''', nickel-plated, with going barrel, straight-line equilibrated lever escapement, cut compensated balance and blued steel hairspring with terminal curve

Case No. 13 760

Material 18K pink gold

Caliber 22''', nickel-plated, with going barrel, straight-line equilibrated lever escapement, cut compensated balance and blued steel hairspring with terminal curve

Dimensions Ø 59 mm

Signature dial, case and movement

Accessories copies of the invention patents

Notes

Among the twenty or so known pieces with “remontoir perpétuel à décrochement”, the present watch is the most complicated known today from this series. Another watch, No. 15 849, made circa 1880, with minute-repeater, perpetual calendar with leap-year indicator and moon phases (not double-faced), was sold by Antiquorum, Geneva, auction, November 13, 2011, lot 494, for the amount of CHF 56 250.- Haas The house founded in Geneva in 1848 by the brothers Léopold Haas (1827-1915) and Benjamin Haas (1828-1925), later becoming “Ancienne Maison B. Haas Jeune”, then “Haas Neveux & Co.”, is one of the oldest Swiss watch manufacturers. The Haas signature has always been one of the most sought after, thanks to the impeccable standards of the company. Haas gained a reputation as a manufacturer of fine chronometers, chronographs, and highly complicated watches. Among their most notable creations was the “remontoir perpétuel à décrochement” (1867 and 1873), a perpetual calendar (1872) and later the first ultra-thin watch movement (circa 1896). Benjamin Haas patented winding-mechanism by closing the cover, “remontoir perpétuel à décrochement” In 1867, Benjamin Haas patented an interesting winding mechanism by closing the cover, which transmits the power via two levers to a ratchet wheel on the barrel arbour with a safety device disengaging the mechanism when fully wound. The design was quite successful, and Haas employed it in some of his best watches, mostly with horological complications. The initial idea was progressively improved, and the one employed in the 1890’s is a welldeveloped system with a 36-hour power reserve generated by only twelve closings. To accomplish this, Haas changed the going train, adding an additional wheel, which allowed him three hours winding by a single closing. He also designed a safety device disengaging the mechanism when fully wound, which was necessary to prevent damage to the cover. Bibliography Alleaume, Auguste, Les brevets d’invention concernant l’horlogerie, catalogue général, recueillis et mis en ordre, avec quelques explications sommaires, Paris, Société des horlogers, Bureau de la Revue Chronométrique, 1873, p. 118 and 122. Patents for Inventions, Abridgements of Specifications. Class 139, Watches, Cloks, and other Timekeepers, Londres, His Majesty’s Stationery Office, Darling & Son, 1904, « Period ?? A.D. 1867- 1876 », pp. 40 and 48 (facsimile, Seatle, Albert L. Odmark Editions, 1979).