Important Watches, Wristwatches and C...

Geneva, Hotel Des Bergues, Oct 15, 1994

LOT 614

Piguet & Meylan, No. 1202, made for the Chinese Market, circa 1820. "Le Coeur". Magnificent and extremely rare 18 ct. gold and enamel, pearl and ruby set heart-shaped quarter repeating musical automaton centre seconds watch.

CHF 0 - 0

C. Two-body, massive, certainly made by George Reymond, hinged at the top, the blue enamelled covers with a split-pearl inlaid decoration, the back centred with an exceptionally fine enamel plaque painted in the manner of Adam, depicting Cupid and Venus, within a pearl-set frame and "pierced" by ruby-set crossed quivers, the front face with a similar decoration and centred with the dial. The back cover opening and decorated on the edge with eau-de-nil champleve enamelled decoration. The plate surrounding the movement engraved with ribbon flowers enamelled in green and red translucent colours against a Royal blue champleve ground. The raised panel of the automaton scene finely painted with a lakeside landscape with varicoloured gold applied automaton seated figures of a maiden playing the guitar and a young man beating time in the foreground, a revolving windmill sail behind. D. White enamel with Roman numerals, outer minute and seconds ring. Blued steel "scoties" hands with counterpoised centre-seconds. M. GiIt bras, Lepine calibre with going barrel, cylinder escapement with plain brass three-arm balance and blued steel flat balance spring. Pin disc musical train with 18 individual vibrating steel blades, playing on the hour or at will, with Music/Silent switch in the edge. Repeating on two gongs by depressing the pendant. Piguet & Meylan trade-mark punched on the front plate beneath the dial. In perfect condition. Dim. 89 x 66 mm.


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Notes

Such watches were usually sold by pair and used to be presented to Oriental Kings and Emperors by the European courts. The fabulous heart-shaped watches by Piguet & Meylan are to be counted amongst the small group of Swiss automaton and musical objects that may be considered as the most extraordinary and fantastic ever produced; the singing-bird pistols and cages are other examples in the same genre. Perhaps no more than four other examples are known to exist. One, formerly in the collection of Gustave Loup was subsequently in the collection of King Farouk of Egypt and sold in the Palace Collections Sale in 1954 as lot 471 ( Sotheby's Catalogue) and by Antiquorum in Vicenza on Saturday 18 January 1992, lot 250 of the catalogue. A matched pair is known, although the cases are not decorated with enamel but rather set entirely with split-pearls. The present watch previously in the collection of Bernard Franck of Paris and illustrated in A. Chapuis and E. Gelis: Le Monde des Automates, 1928, Vol. II, p. 45, fig.325, was also part of King Farouk' collection of Egypt and sold in the Palace Collections Sale in 1954 as lot 462 (Sotheby's Catalogue). Philippe Samuel Meylan, born February 15th, 1772 in Bas-du-Chenit, died in 1845. At 20 years old he came to Geneva where he worked for the Godemar Frères in the capacity of Master worker. Afterward he went back to Brassus where he founded a little factory in 1811. Back to Geneva he definitively settled down. He met there another watchmaker from his own village, Isaac Piguet, with whom he associated, founding the Piguet & Meylan Firm, which will last from 1811 to 1828. It specialised in minute "cadratures", musical watches, skeleton or automaton watches, mechanical animais and personages. Daniel Isaac Piguet, born in Chenit in 1775, died in Geneva in 1841. Very skilful watchmaker, he associated himself a first time with Henry Capt, from 1802 to 1811, then with Samuel Philippe Meylan, another watchmaker from the same village, until 1828. Their works were signed or marked "P.M." within a lozenge. After 1828, he went on with his activities with his son, under the name of Piguet ID & Fils. Their creations were for a large part made for the Chinese market. It is told that an important collector of Sidney bought a large quantity of watches and other musical and automaton objects of virtue, but the boat which carried the pieces sank in consequence of a shipwreck, in the middle of the lndian Ocean.