Provenance Former David S. Landes (1924-2013) Collection, Harvard (USA), historian. The birth of the modern watchmaking This watch features most of Lepine’s horological inventions. In 1763, he invented a new type of repeating mechanism in which the hour and quarter racks were placed directly on the winding arbor. The new design was a great improvement in repeating watches, eliminating the fragile winding chain. It also gave the system better stability, decreased friction, saved room and simplified the mechanism. The 1766 Mémoire de l’Académie Royale des Sciences, in the chapter “Machines ou inventions approuvées par l’Académie en 1763”, gives a very favourable report of Lépine’s invention. About 25 years later, around 1788, when this watch was made, Lépine simplified his repeating system, designing a mechanism striking hours, quarters and sometimes halfquarters on a single hammer. The system is incorporated in our watch, which features also two wolf’s tooth wheel trains. Wolf teeth being considerably stronger than regular symmetrical ones, Lépine used them on the racks of most of his repetition work. According to “Adi” Chapiro (1988, p. 200), Lépine made his first watches with wolf’s tooth trains in 1771, but scarcely used it before 1787 and after 1789 on watches numbered 5 200 to 5 711, in fact only very few examples are known as early as 1775, most of them dated 1787-1789. Some of them were fitted with the virgule escapement (one of his other invention) and some with the cylinder escapement. The inscription “Invenit et Fecit” on the dial refers to the revolutionary movement design, known today as “Lépine calibre” which employs a free-standing barrel and linear stop-work, separate bridges for each wheel in place of a full plate covering the entire mechanism, as well as to the improved repetition system. It also covers the characteristic dial design, found only on Lépine watches from 1787-1789, with the distinctive form of Arabic numerals (which were to become fashionable until the Empire, and were used during the same period by Breguet for one of his own designs), and the gold “fleur-de-lys” hands. Later, towards 1800, Lépine introduced the framed number “1” on its dials. The “Invenit et Fecit” also refers to his invention of the two-piece case with fixed bezel and concealed “invisible” hinges ?? known in French as “à charnières perdues” ??, as well as the “secret” back cover opening mechanism by twisting the pendant. Bibliography Moinet, Louis, Nouveau Traité general élémentaire, pratique et théorique d’horlogerie pour les usages civils et astronomiques, Paris, 1848, pl. 10. Chapiro, Adolphe, Jean-Antoine Lépine, Horloger, 1720-1814, Paris, Editions de l’Amateur, 1988, pp. 200, 265. Lépine’s dumb quarter-repeater watches with wolf’s tooth trains; case “à charnières perdues” with special opening mechanism - No. 5 229 (Paris hallmarks for 1789; case by Guillaume Mermillod). Antiquorum, Hong Kong, auction, June 10, 1997, lot 404, sold for the amount of HK$ 36 800.- Antiquorum, Geneva, auction, October 16, 2005, lot 45, sold for the amount of CHF 20 700.- - No. 5 627 (Paris hallmarks for 1787; case No. 745 by Guillaume Mermillod). Antiquorum, Geneva, auction, November 14, 1993, lot 107, sold for the amount of CHF 19 550.- Antiquorum, Geneva, auction, April 24, 2004, lot 109, sold for the amount of CHF 23 000.- - No. 5 661 (circa 1790; dial damaged). Antiquorum, Hong Kong, auction, May 28, 1989, lot 107, sold for the amount of HK$ 86 250.- - Unnumbered (Paris hallmarks for 1789; case by Guillaume Mermillod). Antiquorum, Geneva, auction, October 17, 1992, lot 69, sold for the amount of CHF 11 500.- Breguet produced in 1790-1791 two dumb quarter-repeater watches uses a bridge calibre with wolf’s tooth trains and a two-piece case “à charnières perdues” with special opening mechanism, virtually identical to the examples developed by Lépine, called by Breguet himself “montre à répétition à la Lépine”. - Breguet No. 149 (circa 1790-1791; unknown date of sale). - Breguet No. 149 bis (circa 1790-1791; sold to Monsieur Gros or Groi, London, in February 1792; 20K gold case No. 614; ebauche by Decombaz, Geneva). Antiquorum, Hong Kong, auction, May 25, 1981, lot 103 (estimation: HK$ 55 000.- / 65 000.- //CHF 20 000.- / 30 000.-). Antiquorum, Geneva, auction, April 10, 1983, lot 102 (estimation: CHF 35 000.- / 40 000.-). Antiquorum, Geneva, auction, April 14, 1991, The Art of Breguet, lot 07, sold for the amount of CHF 63 250.- Auktionen Dr. Crott, Frankfurt-on-Main, auction, May 12, 2012, lot 200, sold for the amount of 84 000.- Breguet Museum, Paris. Bibliography Antiquarian Horology, December 1983, vol. XIV, pp. 372-373. Antiquarian Horology, June 1984, pp. 616-617. Chronométrophilia, No. 22, Summer 1987, pp. 43-45 Chapiro, Adolphe, Jean-Antoine Lépine, horloger (1720-1814), Histoire du développement de l’horlogerie en France, de 1760 à l’Empire, Paris, Les Editions de l’Amateur, 1988, pp. 130-132. Uhren, October 1990, p. 09.