Hervé Invenit et Fecit á Paris, circa 1760. Fine and very rare 18 ct. gold, early double side moon phase astronomical calendar watch. | Important Collectors Wristwatches Pocket Watches & Clocks | Geneva, Hotel Des Bergues, 21st October 1995

Important Collectors Wristwatches Po...

Geneva, Hotel Des Bergues, Oct 21, 1995

LOT 481

Hervé Invenit et Fecit á Paris, circa 1760. Fine and very rare 18 ct. gold, early double side moon phase astronomical calendar watch.

CHF 9,000 - 12,000

Sold: CHF 8,625

C. Double body, Louis XV, polished with glazed back. D. White enamel on the front with Roman numerals and outer Arabic minute ring. Gold engine-turned on the back with apertures for dates, months with their signs of the Zodiac, days of the week and phase and age of the moon. Gold Louis XV hands. M. Hinged gilt brass full plate with square baluster pillars, fusee with chain, verge escapement plain brass three-arm balance, flat balance spring, gilt brass continental cock with polished steel end-piece. The calendar work, set within the back, is driven by the watch movement by means of a small lever. Signed on both dials and back plate. In very good condition. Diam. 46 mm.

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Notes

This watch is based on the saine principle as similar watches made by Tavernier, some 20 years later. The calendar mechanism is direcfly driven off the fusee, rather than from the motion work as is usually done. Such a system would have the advantage of providing the maximum power to drive the full calendar from low down in the train, therefore reducing friction and the consequent effects on the timekeeping. This is something of a rarity and might well have been the starting point of Tavernier's research on calendar works for watches and keys. Refer to Tavernier's watches, Antiquorum sale L'art de l'Horlogerie en France, 14 November 1993, lots 210 and 211.