Exceptional horologic works of art

Hotel Noga Hilton, Geneva, Oct 11, 2003

LOT 125

Breguet, No. 4863, sold to Colonel Boutourlin on September 12, 1837 for 1800 francs. Very fine 18K gold half-hunting souscription watch with à tact option, accompanied by a short gold chain and gold male key.

CHF 40,000 - 60,000

EUR 28,000 - 39,000

Sold: CHF 69,000

C. Four-body, "forme quatre baguettes", engine-turned, spring-loaded front cover with aperture for dial and hands, with champlevé black enamel Roman numerals between engine-turned rings, gold detachable cuvette with winding and regulating apertures. D. White enamel, made by master dial-maker Droz, secret signature below 12 o'clock, Breguet numerals, outer 5-minute divisions. Blued steel single “index” hand. M. 32.6 mm.(14 1/2'''), gilt brass, souscription calibre with central barrel and “arbre percé” (square opening for winding), entire train jeweled, long 5-wheel train, Breguet overhanging ruby cylinder escapement, 3-arm gold balance, pare-chute on top balance pivot.Signed on the dial, punched “B 4863” inside the back cover, which is also punched with casemaker's mark and French guarantee mark.Diam. 42 mm


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Grading System
Grade: AAA

Excellent
Case: 3 - 14
Movement: 3*

Good

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense
Dial: 3 - 6 - 01

Notes

This is the only known “souscription” watch in a half-hunting case. Breguet made only a few hunting-cased watches and even fewer demi-hunting cases. Only four are known : No. 1645, this one, one in private collection, and No. 926 from the Nouvelle series. This is also the only one with an option for “à tact”. No other Breguet watch allows one to open the cover and use the going hand as an “à tact hand”, as in this one. This option, added after the original sale, as the daily register confirms, must have been made upon special request. Provenance:*Exhibited at the centennial Breguet Exhibition in Palais Galliéra, Paris in October 1923, cat No. 205.* Salomons Collection, illustrated in his catalogue, No. 60.* The Art of Breguet, Antiquorum, Geneva, April 14, 1991, No. 94. Colonel Dimitri Petrovitch Boutourlin (1790 - 1849). Enrolled in the Galician army in 1809, he took part in the campaigns of 1812 to 1814 and became sous-lieutenant in 1813. He was made Aide de Camp of General Levachov and received the “Ordre de Prusse pour le Mérite”. In 1823 Boutourlin joined the French Army and took part in the Siege of Silistria in 1829. He was elected Senator in 1833, “Conseiller privé” in 1841 and “Membre du Conseil de l'Empire”. He wrote several historical works in French, among them a “Histoire Militaire de la Campagne de 1812”, published in 1824. In 1824 he married Elisaveta, who was “Dame à portrait” at court, and a wealthy woman.