Important Modern & Vintage Timepieces
Hong Kong, Jul 23, 2020
LOT 51
Larpent & Jürgensen by Jaquet-Droz
Decorative pocket watch; yellow gold, enamel and pearls
Decorative pocket watch; yellow gold, enamel and pearls
HKD 78,000 - 104,000
CHF 9,600 - 12,700 / USD 10,100 - 13,500
“The Judgement of Paris”
Yellow gold, enamel and pearl-set, open-face, key-winding, roundshaped, “Directoire” pocket watch.
Case-back with a mythological scene showing Paris, a Trojan prince, handing the apple to Aphrodite (goddess of love), who promised him the love of the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen; the painting on enamel on gold attributable under reserve to Jean-Louis Richter (1766-1841), Geneva; the border with geometrical paillon decoration; the case-band engraved in taille-douce (fine-cut); the bezels set with half pearls.
White enamel dial with radial revolving Arabic numerals; yellow gold pierced “Jaquet-Droz” hands.
17’’’, full plate, gilded brass, with fusee and chain, cylinder escapement, monometallic balance (probably gilded brass) and blued steel flat hairspring, pierced and engraved gilded continental cock.
Yellow gold, enamel and pearl-set, open-face, key-winding, roundshaped, “Directoire” pocket watch.
Case-back with a mythological scene showing Paris, a Trojan prince, handing the apple to Aphrodite (goddess of love), who promised him the love of the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen; the painting on enamel on gold attributable under reserve to Jean-Louis Richter (1766-1841), Geneva; the border with geometrical paillon decoration; the case-band engraved in taille-douce (fine-cut); the bezels set with half pearls.
White enamel dial with radial revolving Arabic numerals; yellow gold pierced “Jaquet-Droz” hands.
17’’’, full plate, gilded brass, with fusee and chain, cylinder escapement, monometallic balance (probably gilded brass) and blued steel flat hairspring, pierced and engraved gilded continental cock.
| Grading System | |
|---|---|
Grade: AAA |
Excellent |
Case: 3 |
Good |
Movement: 3* |
Good Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense |
Dial: 3-01 |
Good HANDS Original |
Brand Isaac Larpent & Jurgensen, Copenhagen
Model attributed to the Jaquet-Droz workshop, Geneva
Year circa 1780-1790
Case No. 170
Caliber 17’’’, fusee and chain, cylinder escapement
Dimensions Ø 49 mm.
Signature dial and movement
Notes
“The Judgement of Paris”
The story from which the scene painted on enamel is taken includes several characters that are not shown here. The “Judgement of Paris” is an important episode that puts in competition the goddesses Hera, Athena and Aphrodite, and prefigures the Trojan War. This episode is at the origin of the expression “apple of discord” (the “Golden Apple of Discord”).
Larpent & Jürgensen, Copenhagen
Isaac Larpent (1711-1769) was born in Bergen (Norway) and died in Copenhagen (Kiöbenhavn). He was received as Master in 1745 and went into partnership in 1773 with Jürgen Jürgensen (Jørgen Jørgensen; 1748-1811).
Originally from Copenhagen, Jürgensen has travelled extensively throughout Europe for training – notably in Le Locle and Paris to apprentice with the famous makers Frédéric Houriet, Ferdinand Berthoud, Julien Le Roy and Jean Romilly. In 1773, he married the rich Anna Leth Bruun. His wife’s fortune enabled him to establish his own workshop with the much older Isaac Larpent in Röskilde, near Copenhagen. From then on, the company operated under the name “Larpent & Jürgensen” (the name will appear on watches manufactured until 1814). In 1784, the company had 22 employees and produced about 100 pocket watches per year (mainly in four different types).
Jürgen Jürgensen is the father of the famous watchmaker and timekeeper Urban Jürgensen (1776-1830) – apprenticing, amongst others, with Abraham-Louis Breguet in Paris and John Arnold in London – and the grandfather of Jules-Frederick Jürgensen (1808-1877), who will have a brilliant career in Switzerland, in Le Locle (Neuchâtel mountains), and Louis Urban Jürgensen (1806-1867), who will remain in charge of the factory in Copenhagen.
He had another son, Fredrik Jürgensen (1787-1843), also a watchmaker, who took over the business after his father’s death in 1811 and finished the watches he left behind (production then fell to around 15 watches a year).
The story from which the scene painted on enamel is taken includes several characters that are not shown here. The “Judgement of Paris” is an important episode that puts in competition the goddesses Hera, Athena and Aphrodite, and prefigures the Trojan War. This episode is at the origin of the expression “apple of discord” (the “Golden Apple of Discord”).
Larpent & Jürgensen, Copenhagen
Isaac Larpent (1711-1769) was born in Bergen (Norway) and died in Copenhagen (Kiöbenhavn). He was received as Master in 1745 and went into partnership in 1773 with Jürgen Jürgensen (Jørgen Jørgensen; 1748-1811).
Originally from Copenhagen, Jürgensen has travelled extensively throughout Europe for training – notably in Le Locle and Paris to apprentice with the famous makers Frédéric Houriet, Ferdinand Berthoud, Julien Le Roy and Jean Romilly. In 1773, he married the rich Anna Leth Bruun. His wife’s fortune enabled him to establish his own workshop with the much older Isaac Larpent in Röskilde, near Copenhagen. From then on, the company operated under the name “Larpent & Jürgensen” (the name will appear on watches manufactured until 1814). In 1784, the company had 22 employees and produced about 100 pocket watches per year (mainly in four different types).
Jürgen Jürgensen is the father of the famous watchmaker and timekeeper Urban Jürgensen (1776-1830) – apprenticing, amongst others, with Abraham-Louis Breguet in Paris and John Arnold in London – and the grandfather of Jules-Frederick Jürgensen (1808-1877), who will have a brilliant career in Switzerland, in Le Locle (Neuchâtel mountains), and Louis Urban Jürgensen (1806-1867), who will remain in charge of the factory in Copenhagen.
He had another son, Fredrik Jürgensen (1787-1843), also a watchmaker, who took over the business after his father’s death in 1811 and finished the watches he left behind (production then fell to around 15 watches a year).