Important Watches, Wristwatches and C...

Geneva, Hotel Des Bergues, Oct 12, 1996

LOT 629

Piguet Meylan, Geneva, made for the Chinese Market, circa 1820. Extremely fine and rare 18K gold and enamel, pearl-set musical watch with centre seconds and automaton scene, in a gilt brass glazed protecting case with matching enamelled gold chain and key decorated en suite.

CHF 140,000 - 160,000

Sold: CHF 165,200

C. Double body, the pale turquoise enamelled bezels inlaid with split pearls, the enamel back panel finely painted scene of the Holy Virgin and child, La Madonna della Sedia, after Raphael. D. Small eccentric white enamel with Roman numerals and outer minute and seconds ring. Blued steel "spade" hands. The polychrome enamel dial-plate painted with a lake side landscape applied on the foreground with a multicoloured gold automaton figure of a woman playing a harp and a boy a mandolin, their arms articulated in unisson with the musical mechanism. M. Gilt brass double train with a free standing barrel, inverted cylinder escapement with a brass escape wheel, plain brass three-arm balance, flat balance spring. Pin disc musical train with 16 vibrating steel teeth on either side of the disc. Piquet & Meylan master mark punched on the front plate, beneath the dial. In almost new condition. Diam. 44 mm.


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Notes

Philippe Samuel Meylan, born February 15th, 1772 in Bas-du-Chenit, died in 1845. At 20 years old he came to Geneva where he worked for Godemar Freres in quality of Master worker. Afterward, he went back to Brassus where he founded a little factory in 1811. He returned to Geneva where he settled down definitively. He met there another watchmaker from his own village, Isaac Piguet, with whom he associated, founding the Piguet & Meylan Firm, which will last from 1811 to 1828. It specialised in minute "cadratures", musical watches, skeleton or automaton watches, mechanical animals and figures. Daniel Isaac Piguet, born in Chenit in 1775, died in Geneva in 1841. Very skilful watchmaker, he associated himself a first time with Henry Capt, from 1802 to 1811, then with Samuel Philippe Meylan, another watchmaker from the same village, until 1828.Their works were signed or marked "P.M." within a lozenge. After 1828, he went on with his activities with his son, under the name of Piguet ID & Fils. Their creations were for a large part made for the Chinese Market. It is told that an important collector from Sidney bought a large quantity of watches and other musical and automaton objects of virtu, but the boat which carried the pieces was shipwrecked, in the middle of the Indian Ocean.