Important Collectors’ Wristwatches, P...

Geneva, Hotel Du Rhone, Apr 02, 2006

LOT 404

?Fermée-Type? Jolly, Paris circa 1640. Very fine gilt brass savonette pendant pre balance-spring, single hand watch with barley corn engraving.

CHF 25,000 - 30,000

108 16,000 - 20,000

Sold: CHF 30,680

C. Two-body, ?fermée type? with curved?in edge, formed of eight lobes engraved with what was later to be called the Barley corn pattern, centered by a rosette, front cover en suite, round pendant, loose ring. D. Silver ring, champlevé radial Roman numerals, half-hour markers fixed to gilt brass engraved plate with a city scene in the center, stylized foliage on the border. Blued steel ?tulip? hand. M. 30 mm, hinged, gilt brass full plate, turned baluster pillars, fusee and gut, short train, verge escapement, circular iron foliot, irregular pinned cock, pierced and engraved gilt brass click for the ratchet-wheel mainspring set-up. Signed on the back plate. Diam. 35 mm. To be sold without reserve


LOADING IMAGES
Click to full view
Image
Grading System
Grade: AAA

Excellent
Case: 3-39

Good

Rubbed
Movement: 3*

Good

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

Good

HANDS Original

Notes

This watch, remarkable for its case decoration, affords a rare glimpse of the beginnings of engine-turning. The case is meticoulsly engraved with a very small zigzag pattern, forming an appealing and elegant design. Executing such a design by hand was diffucult and time-consuming, and a single mistake would destroy the effect. It was for these reasons that a special machine was invented, and the work it performed was called ?engine-turning?. The machine could be used for turning any article, much the same as a common lathe, but it has additional parts that can be used to engrave a great variety of patterns of curved lines. These generally derive from the French rosette, hence the name of the machine: the ?rose engine?. This lot was previously sold by Antiquorum Geneva, April 24, 2004, lot 512.