Edouard Francois, Brevete S.G.D.G., Paris, circa 1860. Fine and rare giant gilt bronze, hour and half-hour striking carriage clock with remontoire, power reserve indicator and chronometer escapement in original leather covered travelling box. | Important Watches, Wristwatches and clocks

Important Watches, Wristwatches and c...

Geneva, Apr 20, 1996

LOT 540

Edouard Francois, Brevete S.G.D.G., Paris, circa 1860. Fine and rare giant gilt bronze, hour and half-hour striking carriage clock with remontoire, power reserve indicator and chronometer escapement in original leather covered travelling box.

CHF 20,000 - 25,000

C. Gilt bronze, "Corniche" type, glazed on four faces and top. D. Silvered with Roman numerals, inner 8 day up-and-down sector, Arabic subsidiary seconds, off-set small engraved crest an motto at the bottom below the dial: Soy y estoy al servicio de mi Senor. Blued steel Breguet hands. M. Rectangular with polished steel turned pillars, going barrels both for the going and the striking trains, half-hour remontoire with fly regulator and safety device locking the balance when the mainspring is down, platform escapement with pivoted detent escapement, cut bimetallic balance, blued steel balance spring with terminal curves. Striking on a gong. Signed on the back plate. In very good condition. Dim. 25 x 17 x 13 cm., excluding the handle.

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Notes

According to the crest and the motto, this clock was certainly made for a Spanish noble man. A similar clock is illustrated by Charles Allix in Carriage Clocks, pp 112-113, plates V/12 - V/13. These very rare clocks are often signed: Berthoud - Paris, but Edouard Francois appears to be the inventor and the maker. They are rarely found with the original travelling box.