Important Modern & Vintage Timepieces
Hong - Kong, Oct 09, 2010
LOT 426
Cartier ? Petite Sonnerie Gold & Nephrite Comet Clock The Second Most Complicated Comet Clock Made by Cartier and the only example with Petite Sonnerie to be Offered at Auction Cartier, Paris, No. 2650, the movement by European Watch & Clock Co., Inc., France. Made in the Cartier workshop by Maurice Couet, circa 1930. Magnificent, extremely fine and rare, 8-day going, gold and silver mounted nephrite desk clock with Petite Sonnerie striking, date and days of the week calendar, moon phases and alarm. Accompanied by the original numbered key and a Cartier certificate.
HKD 1,250,000 - 1,600,000
USD 160,000 - 200,000 / EUR 125,000 - 160,000
Sold: HKD 1,520,000
C. Rectangular, nephrite panels within a gold framework, the bezel decorated with a continuous square pattern in black champlevé enamel, outswept solid nephrite base, hinged gold-framed nephrite back door concealing the apertures for winding, setting and regulation. D. Sunray engine-turned silvered gold, applied gold and white champlevé enamel chapter ring with radial gold Roman numerals intersected by gold rosettes, outer dot minute divisions, gold and champlevé enamel subsidiary dials for the date, days of the week and alarm, royal blue enamel and gold center comet indicators for the calendar and a gold sun for the alarm. Gold and enamel fleur-de-lys hands. M. 75 x 107 mm., rectangular brass plates, four pillars, going barrels for both trains, straight-line lever escapement mounted on a platform, cut bimetallic compensation balance, blued steel Breguet balance spring, index regulator, striking the hours and quarters with two hammers on two gongs, separate alarm train with further hammer. Dial and case signed, the case with Couet?s punch mark and French gold mark, the movement signed European Watch & Clock Co., Inc. Dim. 16 x 11.5 x 10 cm.
| Grading System | |
|---|---|
Grade: |
|
Case: 3 |
Good |
Movement: 2 |
Very good |
Dial: 2-01 |
Very good HANDS Original |
Notes
The most complicated known Comet clocks: - Grande Sonnerie, number unknown, 1924 - Grande Sonnerie, No. 2577, completed 1929 - Petite Sonnerie, No. 2650 (the present clock) circa 1930
These extremely elegant clocks were made for Cartier by Maurice Couet who was also the genius behind Cartier?s legendary mystery clocks. Couet started making clocks exclusively for Cartier from 1911 and those with comet indicators around 1914. The comet, along with stars and moons became a regularly used motif. The beauty of the comet is that its shape lends itself to use as a pointer or indicator and so Couet could make semi-mystery clocks or clocks without conventional hands by using the comet in this way. The calendar dials of the present clock illustrate this perfectly. The Cartier workshops were at their most inventive during the 1920?s and 1930?s. As with Faberge earlier in the century, Cartier saw the possibilities of combining the best craftsmanship with the imaginative use of semi-precious stones accented by gold, enamel and sometimes precious stones. The value of the objects and clocks made by Cartier during the Art Deco period lay in their breathtaking craftsmanship as much as their intrinsic value. These clocks were hugely expensive when new and could be afforded only by the very rich. The present clock is not only a wonderful example of Art Deco design, it is also one of the very few Cartier clocks to incorporate a complicated striking mechanism with calendar and alarm.