Geneva, May 12, 2024
LOT 277
BREGUET & FILS, SWITZERLAND, PUNCHINELLO, QUARTER REPEATER AUTOMATONS, 18K YELLOW GOLD
CHF 8,000 - 13,000
HKD 70,000 - 114,000 / USD 8,900 - 14,400 / EUR 8,200 - 13,300
A very fin and rare, 18k yellow gold, manual wind open-face, key-winding pocket watch. Quarter-repeater on two steel gongs (activated by depressing the pendant), leading the two striking Jacks and the animated scene with two functions The chiselled varicoloured gold scene shows two cherubs Jacquemarts (Jacks) striking the elapsed time, and, upper, on a balcony an automaton scene where Punchinello appears to strike the hour on a bell; all animated by the repeating mechanism.
| Grading System | |
|---|---|
Grade: AAA |
Excellent |
Case: 2-19 |
Very good Dent(s) |
Movement: 3* |
Good Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense |
Dial: 3-01 |
Good HANDS Original |
Brand Breguet & Fils, Switzerland
Model PUNCHINELLO
Year Circa 1815
Case No. 6783
Diameter 56 mm.
Caliber 22’’’ gilded brass, with fusee and chain, verge escapement, monometallic balance and blued steel flat hairspring, pierced and engraved gilded continental cock
Signature Case
Notes
In this unusual automaton scene, the figure of Punchinello enters the aperture at the top from the left when the pendant is depressed. After striking the hours, he vanishes, and the cherubs below then strike the quarters. This type of watch is so rare that Alfred Chapuis and Edmond Droz discovered only a movement to illustrate it in their book "Les Automates," page 180.