Important Modern & Vintage Timepieces

Geneva, Nov 10, 2013

LOT 557

GIRARD - EXCEPTIONAL DETENT CHRONOMETER TOURBILLON PRECISION WATCH WITH ENAMEL PORTRAITS OF NAPOLEON I AND EMPRESS JOSEPHINE Girard & Comp (later Girard-Perregaux), Chaux-de-Fonds, 'Chronometre Tourbillon', No. 40066. Made circa 1855. Extremely fine and rare, large, heavy 18K gold and painted on enamel, hunting cased pocket Chronometer with pivoted detent escapement, one-minute tourbillon and regulator dial. Accompanied by an additional white enamel dial.

CHF 60,000 - 80,000

HKD 500,000 - 670,000 / USD 63,000 - 86,000

Sold: CHF 123,750

Five-body, bassine et filets, reeded band, the hinged and sprung front cover decorated with a finely painted on enamel portrait of Napoleon I after the painting by Paul Delaroche, in military uniform and wearing the cross and grand eagle of the Lègion D'Honneur, engraved gold foliate border on a black champleve enamel ground, polished outer rim, the back cover with a finely painted on enamel portrait of the Empress Josephine, the border to match the front cover. Hinged gold cuvette engraved 'Chronometre Tourbillon' and with engine-turned border. Matte silver regulator-type, the hour dial with radial Roman numerals, minutes with Arabic numerals, seconds dial with Arabic numerals, decorated with red and blue champleve enamel flowers. Blued steel hands. 45 mm., matte gilt, half-plate, fusee with chain and maintaining power, pivoted detent Chronometer escapement, cut bimetallic compensation balance, blued steel Breguet balance spring with terminal curve, one-minute tourbillon regulator with polished equidistant three-arm steel cage, index regulator. Cuvette and movement signed, case numbered.


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Grading System
Grade:
Case: 2

Very good
Movement: 2*

Very good

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense
Dial: 2-01

Very good

HANDS Original

Notes

DIAM. 56 mm. This precision watch is both aesthetically and technically sophisticated, the heavy gold case is finely decorated with enamel portraits of Napoleon I and Empress Josephine, the portrait of Napoleon taken from the famous portrait by Paul Delaroche (1797-1856). The movement with one-minute tourbillon regulator is fitted with a fusee and chain to equalize the power transmission to the pivoted detent Chronometer escapement - much more rarely used in tourbillon watches because of it's delicacy and the immense skill required to build it. Both these features combined with a tourbillon carriage and bimetallic balance are to ensure that the effects of temperature, friction and erratic power transmission are reduced as much as possible. During the mid-19th century very few makers in Switzerland were capable of making a tourbillon, one of these was Constant Girard-Perregaux (1825-1903) After a happy childhood, Constant Girard learned the watchmaker's trade, slowly and patiently absorbing its secrets as they were passed on by demanding master craftsmen. Around 1852, Constant Girard and his brother Numa founded a watch manufacturing company in La Chaux-de-Fonds. They called it Girard & Compangnie. Barely two years later, at the age of 29, Constant Girard married Marie Perregaux, the daughter of a local watchmaker. In 1856, the name of the company was changed to Girard-Perregaux, Constant having taken to using both family names. He was very technically minded, devising fine time-measurement instruments for his customers. A perfectionist, he was constantly trying to design increasingly sophisticated, meticulously fashioned movements. His years of experimenting and experience culminated eventually in the three parallel bridge construction. Performance took on greater importance, spurring the development of progressively more complex and accurate watches, with an increasing variety of indications. This was the heyday of chronometry and observatory contests between the great watchmakers of the period. Constant Girard-Perregaux was a talented contestant, winning no less than 13 Gold Medals and other distinctions in America and in Europe.