Antiquorum Auctioneers since 1974

Geneva, May 10, 2026

LOT 330

LEPINE, FRANCE, INVENIT ET FECIT, DUMB QUARTER REPEATING WITH EARLY LEVER ESCAPEMENT, GOLD AND ENAMEL

CHF 5,000 - 10,000

HKD 49,600 - 100,000 / USD 6,400 - 12,700 / EUR 5,500 - 10,900 / JPY 1,010,000 - 2,020,000

TO BE SOLD WITHOUT RESERVE

Sold: CHF 4,500

A fine and rare, 18k gold and enamel, manual wind open-face, key-winding quarter-repeating ''à toc'' pocket watch, early lever escapement. 18K gold and enamel. White enamel dial with radial Arabic numerals, outer minute track and Arabic five-minute numerals. Gold Louis hands. Case by Guillaume Mermillod. Bezel decorated with white enamel “pearls” and ovals with translucent green enamel leaves. The back centered with a finely painted enamel scene depicting a winged cherub with quiver and arrows in a romantic garden with rose bushes, the outer border en suite with the bezel decoration.


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Grading System
Grade: AAA

Excellent
Case: 3-8

Good

Slightly scratched
Movement: 3-8*

Good

Slightly scratched

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

Good

HANDS Original

Brand Lepine, France

Model Invenit et Fecit

Year Circa 1780

Case No. 2073

Caliber 27 mm., gilt brass, standing barrel, early lever escapement, three-arm brass balance, blued steel flat balance spring, index regulator, repeating à toc activated by depressing the pendant.

Diameter 33 mm.

Weight 34 gr.

Signature Dial and cuvette signed, case with Guillaume Mermillod's punch mark.

Notes

Lépine was the first maker in France to use Arabic numerals for the hours in place of the traditional Roman chapters. This watch is a good example of this new style of dial.
Jean-Antoine Lépine (1720-1814) was born in Challex, a village north of Geneva and arrived in Paris in 1744. A workman for King's Clockmaker André Charles Caron, he married Caron's daughter in 1756 and was received Master in 1765. Around 1765 he became King's Clockmaker, and in 1766 he succeeded Caron. , In 1772, Lépine was in the Place Dauphine, in 1778- 1779, Quai de l'Horloge du Palais, then in the rue des Fossés Saint Germain l'Auxerrois near the Louvre in 1781, and finally at 12 Place des Victoires in 1789