Important Collectors Wristwatches, Po...

Geneva, Nov 14, 2009

LOT 237

Grande & Petite Sonnerie and Minute-Repeating Clockwatch Attributed to Louis Elisée Piguet, ?Grande Sonnerie Repetition a Minutes?, No. 9142, retailed by Wm. Weingart, horloger, 9, Boul.d Poissonniere, Paris. Made circa 1890. Very fine and very rare, large, trip minute-repeating, 18K yellow gold, hunting cased, keyless, two-train, Grande and Petite Sonnerie clockwatch.

CHF 30,000 - 40,000

USD 30,000 - 40,000 / EUR 20,000 - 27,000

C. Four-body, "bassine", polished, the interior of the back cover with engraved dedication. Hinged gold cuvette engraved with the retailer?s and technical details. D. White enamel, radial Roman numerals, outer minute track and Arabic five-minute numerals, subsidiary seconds. Blued steel spade hands. M. 20"', frosted gilt, two-train with Mairet tandem winding, 32 jewels, calibrated straight-line lever escapement, cut bimetallic compensation balance, blued steel Breguet balance spring, index regulator, striking the hours and quarters on two gongs with two hammers, Silence/Sonnerie and Petite/ Grande Sonnerie selection levers on the bezel border, repeating activated by a trip slide on the band. Case and dial plate punch numbered 9142. Diam. 56 mm.


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Grading System
Grade: AAA

Excellent
Case: 3

Good
Movement: 3*

Good

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

Good

HANDS Original

Notes

The present watch is in exceptionally good condition. The movement can be attributed to Louis Elisee Piguet when compared to the signed movement with the same functions which was sold by Antiquorum, Hong Kong, June 6, 2004, lot 150.
Louis Elisée Piguet (1836 ? 1924) From Le Brassus made a number of exceptional timepieces, such as a ?grande sonnerie? with 7 hammers. Some of the most complicated watches sold in Glashütte employed L. E. Piguet movements, while firms such as Patek Philippe, Vacheron & Constantin, and Breguet employed his movements on occasion. He improved chronographs, invented the fixed star repeating mechanism, and improved the keyless winding system. When Ami LeCoultre Piguet received a commission to build the so-called ?Merveilleuse?, a watch with 24 functions and complications, he chose Louis-Elisée Piguet as his partner. One of the most talented watchmakers of the end of the 19th century, he was respected by his peers and served on a number of horological committees. His company, later renamed Frédéric Piguet SA, has survived and continues the tradition of making high-quality complicated timepieces.
Literature: ?Horlogers et montres exceptionnels de la Vallée de Joux?, Daniel Aubert, Neuchâtel, 1997.