Important Watches, Wristwatches and C...

Geneva, Hotel Des Bergues, Oct 15, 1994

LOT 43

The unique gold medal awarded to Henri Motel in 1834 at the Paris Exhibition of the French Industry Products.

CHF 5,500 - 6,000

Sold: CHF 6,325

Solid gold medal with the profile portrait of the King Louis Philippe on one side, the symbols of Arts and Industries on the reverse. In original shark-skin fitted box. Diam. 56 mm. Weights 138 g.


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Notes

At the 1834 exhibition the jury justified the award of a gold medal in these terms: This excellent watchmaker was the effective maker of chronometers for the Marine before the making of these instruments was thrown open to competition. He justified this honorable preference by the great number of chronometers he delivered. His instruments are of excellent execution. They have the most reliable going as established at the Paris Observatory and in the ports of the Marine Royale. Since the last exhibition, M. Motel has made pocket chronometers and clocks of a design that makes their transport and installation equally commodious. With strips of iron and zinc he makes compensated pendula for these astronomical clocks which allow the crucial point of the compensation to be found by experiment'. Finally at the 1839 exhibition, the jury confirmed the gold medal awarded in 1834.