Important Collectors Wristwatches Po...
Geneva, Hotel Des Bergues, Oct 21, 1995
LOT 844
Jean Hubert à Rouen Fecit, circa 1690. Rare gilt brass, early balance spring Louis XIV " oignon" without fusee.
CHF 7,000 - 9,000
C. (Contemporary) double body, oignon, plain. D. White enamel with Roman numerals. Thin blued steel single hand. M. Hinged gilt brass full plate with elaborate pillars pierced and engraved with scrolling foliage, fixed barrel with going arbor carrying the great wheel, verge escapement, plain steel four-arm balance, short balance spring with Tompion type rack and pinion regulator, fine gilt brass cock pierces and engraved with masks and foliage. Signed on the back plate. In good condition. Diam. 54 mm.
Notes
"Oignons" without fusee are extremely rare.
Jacques Gloria was the first to produce them at
Rouen at the end of the 17th Century believing that
with the increased precision given to watches by
use of the balance-spring, that he could do without
the fusee. For a short period he was followed by
several clock-makers at Rouen, Dieppe, Caen and
Abbeville. Usually they are straight-forward
watches without the least complication.The rack
regulator is very similar to that invented in England
by Thomas Tompion.