Important Collectors’ Wristwatches, P...

Hong Kong, Apr 23, 2006

LOT 80

?Birds of Paradise? Bovet, Fleurier, No. 4579. Made for the Chinese market, circa 1860. Fine and very unusual, silver-gilt, painted on enamel and split pearl set pocket watch with center-seconds and Jacot duplex escapement.

HKD 30,000 - 40,000

USD 4,000 - 5,200 / EUR 3,200 - 4,300

Sold: HKD 129,800

C. Three-body, reeded band, split-pearl set bezels, pendant and bow, the back cover decorated with a very fine painted on enamel scene of two birds of paradise on a flowering tree branch, opalescent guilloché ground. Hinged and sprung glazed cuvette for viewing the movement. D. White enamel with slender radial Roman numerals, outer minute divisions and Arabic quarter-hour numerals. Blued steel ?Flower? hands. M. 48 mm., polished steel, Chinese calibre, 8 jewels, standing barrel, Jacot duplex escapement, bimetallic compensation balance with blued steel ?winged? weights, flat balance spring, index regulator. Movement signed. Diam. 57 mm. To be sold without reserve


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Grading System
Grade: AA

Very good
Case: 3-41

Good

Repolished, edges preserved
Movement: 3-6*

Good

Slightly oxidized

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

Good

HANDS Original

Notes

The present watch is decorated with a particularly unusual scene for the Chinese market of birds of paradise, the opalescent enamel background is also unusual on a Chinese market watch. The composition is particularly elegant and beautiful, providing visual harmony. Bird of Paradise - denotes extravagant and elaborate thoughts. On the positive side, it can symbolize lightness, closeness to God, and removal from worldly concerns. Other attributes symbolized by birds denote personality characteristics, such as appreciation of beauty, joy and love; the transcendent qualites that elevate man, linking the material world to the spiritual world