Important Collectors’ Wristwatches, P...

Geneva, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Du Rhône, Nov 12, 2006

LOT 45

Venus and Adonis Henry Arlaud, (Geneva), Geneva school enamel, circa 1670. Very fine and important painted on enamel 21K gold single-hand prebalance spring pendant watch. To be sold without reserve

CHF 40,000 - 60,000

EUR 25,000 - 38,000 / USD 32,000 - 48,000

Sold: CHF 49,560

C. Two-body, ?bassine? with inward edges, back finely painted on enamel depicting Venus pleading with Adonis not to go hunting, with two dogs on leashes, Amour behind, after Simon Vouet, band with four vignettes painted with rural scenes, castle ruins, Alpine scene, inside an impressive portal in the foreground with a large tree overshadowing it and Alpine scene in the background, small pendant, loose ring. D. White enamel, large radial Roman numeral ring with half-hour indexes, inner quarter-hour ring, center with finely painted scene depicting Venus attempting to entice Adonis, while he appears unmoved and impatient for the hunt. Gilt ?tulip? hand. M. 33 mm., hinged, gilt brass, full plate, baluster pillars, cat-gut fusee, short three-wheel train with five-leaf pinions, verge escapement, circular steel foliot irregular pierced and engraved gilt cock secured by a screw, worm-gear and pinion mainspring set-up with silver scale plate. Signed on the movement. Diam. 39 mm. Property of a Swiss Collector


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Grading System
Grade:
Case: 3-61

Good
Movement: 3*

Good

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense
Dial: 3-57-01

Good

Original later bezel

HANDS Original

Notes

Venus and Adonis According to the legend, Adonis was born from the incestuous union of Myrrha and her father Cinyras, King of Paphos in Cyprus. The gods transformed Myrrha into a myrrh-tree and in due course Adonis was born when the tree?s trunk was split open by a wild boar. Venus was struck by the beauty of the child Adonis and put him in the care of Persephone, the queen of the underworld. But Persephone loved the youth and refused to give him back to Venus. Jupiter was called on to pass judgment and ruled that Adonis was to remain one third of the year with each goddess in turn, spending the rest of the time as he pleased. Adonis died as he was born, being attacked by a wild boar while hunting. Venus, overcome with despair, fashioned a flower from the blood of his wounds - the red anemone, which blooms briefly each year and then dies. Henry Arlaud (1631 - 1689) Born in Auvergne in France, he was the son of Antoine I. Master Watchmaker, he settled in Geneva. His apprentices were Abraham Decarro in 1663, Dominique Dassier in 1667, and François Dentand. "Dictionnaire des Horlogers Genevois" by Osvaldo Patrizzi, Antiquorum Editions, Geneva, 1998.