Important Modern & Vintage Timepieces
New York, Sep 18, 2013
LOT 79
A ROYAL BIRTHDAY GIFT FROM QUEEN VICTORIA & PRINCE ALBERT TO THEIR DAUGHTER, HRH THE PRINCESS ALICE (1843-1878) Swiss, retailed by Aubert & Klaftenberger, Watchmakers to The Queen & HRH Prince Albert, 157, Regent Street, London, No. 4782. Presented to HRH the Princess Alice by her parents, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert as 12th birthday gift on 25th April, 1855. Very fine and historically important lady's gold pocket watch. Accompanied by a gold chain.
USD 3,000 - 5,000
HKD 23,000 - 39,000 / CHF 2,900 - 4,800
Sold: USD 26,250
| Grading System | |
|---|---|
Grade: AAA |
Excellent |
Case: 3 |
Good |
Movement: 3* |
Good Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense |
Dial: 3-01 |
Good HANDS Original |
Notes
Geneve. Diam. 33 mm. Thickness 8 mm.
Princes Alice , b. 1843 ? 1878, second daughter and third child of Queen Victoria &
Prince Albert. A compassionate child, she was the bedside companion and care giver
to her grandmother, Victoria. The Duchess of Kent during her final illness. Following
her demise, Alice consoled her own distraught mother. This watch was a gift for her
12th birthday from her parents.. In 1862, Alice unceremoniously married Prince Louis
of Hesse as the family was mourning the death of her father. The couple had seven
children. This watch was passed to her sixth child ? Princess Alix (1872?1918), who
married Tsar Nicholas II , and was in her possession until a short time before she was
murdered at Ekaterinburg; The watch was given to a long time servant whose family
held it until the late 1990s.