A TRIBUTE TO PRECISION AND COMPLICATE...

Hotel Nogalhilton Geneve, Nov 11, 2001

LOT 28

Timekeeper with 1 ComplicationBreguet, No. 555, sold to Monsieur Hottinguer in Pluviose An 8 (January/February 1800).Very fine 8 day-going mahogany jump hour-hand table clock striking hours and half-hours, accompanied by Breguet certificate.

CHF 60,000 - 70,000

USD 37,000 - 43,000

C. Rectangular, veneered with slightly extended base, back panel sliding vertically to reveal the movement, gilt brass bezel, gilt brass paw feet. D. White enamel, Breguet numerals, outer minute ring. Blued steel Breguet hands. M. Rectangular with canted top corners, two trains driven from the same barrel, anchor escapement, brass-bob pendulum, steel rod with loop for the winding arbor, spring-loaded locking bracket, spring suspension with a regulator on the back, striking on a bell.Signed on the dial, punched with the serial number on the movement.Diam. Height 26 cm, width 17 cm.


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Grading System
Grade: AAA

Excellent
Case: 3

Good
Movement: 3*

Good

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense
Dial: 3 - 12 - 01

Notes

Breguet made a few clocks in cases like this one over the period 1800-1830 (see lot 324 , No. 3743, Antiquorum, October 1998).Jean-Conrad, Baron Hottinger (1764 - 1841),was a banker and friend of Abraham-Louis Breguet, originally from Zurich, Switzerland. He began his career in Paris well before the revolution as a teller with Lecouteleux, opening his own banking business in 1786, and founding the first Insurance Company in France in 1787. Wisely returning to Switzerland under the Terror, he spent some time in London where he married a young lady from the wealthy Redwood family, planters from New England. After some years in America during which he met Talleyrad, one of the most influential figures of the Revolutionary era, he returned to Paris in 1796, and announced the re-establishment of a new banking house under the name of Hottinger et Cie in May 1798. Expansion of the business was rapid, with a bank opening in Le Havre in 1802 and another soon afterwards in Marseille. Hottinger was amongst the 200 largest shareholders in the newly formed Banque de France, and became Governor of the same in 1803. He was appointed a judge at the Tribunal de Commere in 1806, and a member of the Chambre de Commerce in 1810, as well as representative for the Seine to the Parliament during the One Hundred Days.The records of the Breguet firm list more than 26 clocks and watches either bought by him or given to him by Breguet. Seven generations of the family have, without interruption, served on the board of Hottinger & Cie., which continues today to be one of the leading private merchant banks.Significant dates in the early history of the Bank: 1786 The name Hottinger appears in the Royal Almanac under the heading "Bankers for Trade and Settlements in all countries". 1787 First Royal Insurance Company founded by J.-C. Hottinger. 1803 J.-C. Hottinger appointed Governor of the Bank of France. 1811 Organization by the bank of the transport of American Cotton to France. 1815 Launch of a whaling fleet to the Southern Atlantic. 1816 Introduction of Maritime Insurance. 1818 Organization of a Savings Bank in Paris, in partnership with Benjamin Delessert. 1852 Participation in the creation of the first Paris-Lyon rail network, followed by the P.L.M., and the Northern lines. Established the General Water Company.