Important Modern & Vintage Timepieces
Geneva, Nov 08, 2020
LOT 265
‘’WOLF’S TOOTH’’
CHF 4,000 - 6,000
HKD 32,000 - 48,000 / USD 4,000 - 6,000
Sold: CHF 8,125
Fine and extremely rare, large 18K gold, dumb quarter repeating watch with wolf’s tooth train and Lépine’s special opening mechanism. Cased by Mermillod (GM).
| Grading System | |
|---|---|
Grade: AAA |
Excellent |
Case: 3-8 |
Good Slightly scratched |
Movement: 3* |
Good Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense |
Dial: 3-77-01 |
Good ENAMEL AND VARIOUS TYPES OF DECORATION Restored soft enamel HANDS Original |
Brand Lepine
Year Hallmarks for 1789
Movement No. 5229
Case No. 702
Caliber 19’’’
Dimensions 54 mm
Signature Dial, case and movement
Notes
The present watch is a very good example of Jean-Antoine Lépine’s work. The case with
fixed bezel, the back opening by twisting the pendant, the distinctive form of Arabic numerals (which were to become fashionable until the Empire, and were used during the same period by Breguet), and the gold fleur-de-lys hands are typical of Lépine’s style. The movement illustrates all the characteristics associated with Lépine’s work and is identical to that chosen by Moinet to illustrate his book Nouveau Traité d’Horlogerie, plate 10. According to A. Chapiro, Jean-Antoine Lepine, Horloger, Editions de L’Amateur, Lépine made his first watches with wolf’s tooth trains in 1771, but it is mainly between 1787 and 1789 that Lépine used the wolf’s tooth train for watches numbered between 5200 and 5711. The present lot was previously sold by Antiquorum Hong Kong, on June 10, 1997, lot 404. For a biography of Lépine, see lot 34.
fixed bezel, the back opening by twisting the pendant, the distinctive form of Arabic numerals (which were to become fashionable until the Empire, and were used during the same period by Breguet), and the gold fleur-de-lys hands are typical of Lépine’s style. The movement illustrates all the characteristics associated with Lépine’s work and is identical to that chosen by Moinet to illustrate his book Nouveau Traité d’Horlogerie, plate 10. According to A. Chapiro, Jean-Antoine Lepine, Horloger, Editions de L’Amateur, Lépine made his first watches with wolf’s tooth trains in 1771, but it is mainly between 1787 and 1789 that Lépine used the wolf’s tooth train for watches numbered between 5200 and 5711. The present lot was previously sold by Antiquorum Hong Kong, on June 10, 1997, lot 404. For a biography of Lépine, see lot 34.