Important Modern & Vintage Timepieces

Hong - Kong, Oct 09, 2010

LOT 430

Ilbery - The Pear Ilbery, London, No. 6141. Made for the Chinese market, circa 1820. Extremely fine and rare, 18K gold, painted on enamel and pearl-set, pear-shaped pocket watch with center-seconds and duplex escapement.

HKD 270,000 - 425,000

USD 35,000 - 55,000 / EUR 27,000 - 43,000

Sold: HKD 500,000

C. Two-body, pear-shaped, the bezel set with split-pearls, the band, stem and bow decorated with pale green, blue, white and red champlevé enamel, hinged and sprung scallop-edged back cover set with a finely painted panel of summer flowers and fruit within a gold and enamel wavy-line border. Hinged and sprung gold cuvette overlaid with translucent guilloché scarlet enamel within a gold, white and pale green enamel scalloped border. D. White enamel with radial Roman numerals and outer minute and seconds divisions, Arabic quarter-hour numerals. Blued steel pierced hands. M. 45 mm., gilt "Chinese" caliber, entirely foliate chased and engraved, standing barrel, duplex escapement, three-arm gold balance with three steel screws, blued steel flat balance spring, diamond endstone, index regulator. Movement signed. Dim. 63 x 53 mm. excluding pendant. This lot was previously sold by Christie?s Hong Kong, on 31 May 2005, as lot 2128; it was subsequently sold by Antiquorum in April 2006


LOADING IMAGES
Click to full view
Image
Grading System
Grade: AA

Very good
Case: 3-75

Good

ENAMEL AND VARIOUS TYPES OF DECORATION Slightly restored soft enamel
Movement: 3*

Good

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense
Dial: 4-25-71-01

Fair

Chipped

ENAMEL AND VARIOUS TYPES OF DECORATION Hairlines

HANDS Original

Notes

William Ilbery (?-1839) Active in London from 1780. Following James Cox in London and Jaquet Droz in Switzerland, he specialized in luxury watches made for the Chinese market. His early production was in the English style, with a full plate movement and an English type single wheel duplex escapement; however for his highest quality watches he incorporated a spring detent escapement. The cases were in the style of those made in England at the time. Later, along with Jaquet Droz?s Swiss production signed in London and that of William Anthony who worked in London, his watch movements were much inspired by the Lepine caliber with free-standing barrel. He set a new standard for watches made for the Asian market. He had profusely engraved movements made in Switzerland, mainly in Fleurier. He was followed in this by makers such as Bovet and Juvet. Bovet and Juvet organized the mass production of silvercased watches and later, once their Canton manufactures were opened, assembled them in China. Ilbery can therefore be considered the ?father? of ?Chinese? watches as they are known today. Ilbery?s watch cases were decorated by Geneva?s best enamelers, such as Jean-Francois-Victor Dupont and Jean-Louis Richter. He seems to have maintained close contacts with the continental trade, since a watch signed ?Ilbery Paris? is known and Ilbery & Son are recorded in London and Fleurier, as well as in Canton. ?Chinese? watches were often sold by pairs and therefore each pair was fitted in a specially designed box. Whenever such pairs of watches were enameled, they were always painted in a symmetrically opposed manner, like mirror images.