Important Modern & Vintage Timepieces

Hong Kong, Apr 28, 2019

LOT 400

CHARLES-EDOUARD LARDET FOR P. L. PECHEMIEL POCKET WATCH WITH EARLY "IN VIEW" CHRONOGRAPH AND CUVETTE WITH TWO PAINTED PORTRAITS ON ENAMEL; 18K YELLOW GOLD AND ENAMEL

HKD 125,000 - 150,000

CHF 15,800 - 18,950 / USD 16,000 - 19,200

18K yellow gold, open-face, keyless-winding, round-shaped, pocket watch, subsidiary seconds at 6 and one horological complication: - 1/5 second chronograph (activated by the winding-crown) Case-back guilloché engine-turned, engraved in taille-douce (fine cut) with the cypher "S F R". Cuvette (dome) with two painted on enamel portraits of a gentleman and a lady against a florally engraved background.


LOADING IMAGES
Click to full view Click to full view Click to full view Click to full view
Image Image Image Image
Grading System
Grade: AAA

Excellent
Case: 3

Good
Movement: 3*

Good

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

Good

HANDS Original

Brand Charles-Edouard Lardet

Model retailed by P. L. Pechemiel, Madrid (dated 1878)

Year circa 1875-1878

Movement No. 3 595

Calibre  20''', gilded brass, with going barrel, straight-line equilibrated lever escapement, compensated balance with gold poising screws and blued steel hairspring with terminal curve; early "in view" chronograph mechanism with detent-type levers and gold wheels

Case No. 3 595

Material 18K yellow gold and enamel

Caliber 20''', gilded brass, with going barrel, straight-line equilibrated lever escapement, compensated balance with gold poising screws and blued steel hairspring with terminal curve; early "in view" chronograph mechanism with detent-type levers and gold wheels

Dimensions Ø 53.6 mm.

Signature dial (by the retailer), movement (by the maker)

Notes

Provenance Antiquorum, Geneva, November 11, 2002, A Tribute to Precision and Complicated Horology, lot 113, sold for the amount of CHF 14 950. Lardet, Charles-Edouard Fleurier, 1832 ?? Madrid, 1904 Watchmaker, originally from Val-de-Travers, who settled in Spain. From 1877, he is Consul General of Switzerland in Madrid. Highly regarded and influential in Madrid, Lardet rendered great service to the Helvetic Confederation in troubled times then known to the country. The Swiss passing through Madrid find at his home a benevolent welcome and a complete initiation into the affairs of Spain. During his stay in Spain (October 1878 ?? June 1879), Ferdinand Hodler (1853-1918) maintained relations with Lardet and painted an interior scene in the workshop of the clockmaker Charles Abet (1839-1879) (Lucerne, Kunstmuseum, Inv.-E 58x). “In view” chronograph The modern chronograph, with functions “start”, “stop” and “return to zero”, was invented in London in 1861 by Adolphe Nicole (British invention patent No. 1 461 of May 14, 1862) and presented at the Universal Exhibition of London in 1862. Henri- Féréol Piguet (?-?), a watchmaker also from the Vallée de Joux ?? who then worked (1859-1861) for Nicole & Capt in London ?? will later claim paternity (1883). In 1868, a Genevan watchmaker, Auguste Baud (1825-1894), decided to place the entire chronograph mechanism behind the calibre of the watch, which facilitates assembly and adjustment; this is called the “in view” chronograph. Very quickly, he worked with Adrien Philippe (1815-1894), one of the founders of Patek Philippe, and together develop, in the years 1870-1880, many watches for the Genevan manufacture. In 1878, during the Universal Exhibition of Paris, Auguste Baud obtains a bronze medal for his invention. Many watchmakers from Geneva and the Vallée de Joux, but also from Besançon, adopt this invention and develop new products on this basis by adding, for example, time counters. These recorders are available in thirty or sixty minutes, to which can be added a recorder of hours, which allows long periods of time, such as the duration of a journey by train.