Important Collectors Watches, Pocket ...
Hong Kong, Jun 08, 2008
LOT 412
The Violinist Charles Reuge, à Sainte Croix, No. 1297. Made for the Indian Market, the case with London hallmarks for 1884 - 1885. Fine, unusual and very rare, large, two-train, musical, 18K gold hunting-cased keyless pocket watch with centerseconds and automaton violinist, playing two tunes on a pinned cylinder at will.
HKD 190,000 - 240,000
USD 25,000 - 31,000 / EUR 15,000 - 20,000
Sold: HKD 372,000
C. Four body, "bassine", polished, mastermark JM. Hinged gold cuvette with illegible engraved dedication. D. White enamel, two-piece with radial Roman numerals, outer minute track and outermost fifths of a second divisions, Arabic fivesecond numerals, the centre painted with a seated violinist in an interior, one arm automated holding the violin bow and activated when the music plays. Blued steel spade hands. M. 48 mm., frosted and gilt double train with differential winding, counterpoised lateral lever escapement, cut bimetallic compensation balance, blued steel Breguet balance spring, index regulator, musical train with pinned cylinder and 35 steel toothed comb playing two tunes at will: The Lagoon?s Waltz & The Daughter of the Regiment. Movement engraved with the Reuge trademark of a lion rampant. Diam. 58 mm.
| Grading System | |
|---|---|
Grade: AAA |
Excellent |
Case: 3 |
Good |
Movement: 3 |
Good |
Dial: 3-01 |
Good HANDS Original |
Notes
Charles Reuge Registered its name and the lion trademark in 1883, for the making of musical and watch movements. Only 50 of these watches were made, based on a patent registered on April 25, 1883. They were intended mostly for the Chinese and Indian markets. Reuge revived the idea of musical watches from the early 19th century but instead of using the sur plateau type mechanism favored by Piguet & Meylan, he used a pinned cylinder. The cylinder type is more robust and gives a more resonant sound, but requires a thicker case to house it. It also allows for more than one tune to be played from the same cylinder. The Lagoon Waltz is a beautiful song from the operetta Eine Nacht in Venedig, composed by Johann Strauss II and first performed in 1883. It was therefore a new tune at the time this watch was made. The Daughter of the Regiment or ?La fille du régiment? is an opera comique in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Written while the composer was living in Paris, the French libretto is by Georges Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jean-Francois Bayard.