Important Modern & Vintage Timepieces

Geneva, Nov 11, 2012

LOT 413

MUSICAL QUARTER REPEATING WATCH WITH VIRGULE ESCAPEMENT Swiss, case No. 10884. Made circa 1820. Very fine and rare, large, 18K pink gold, musical pocket watch with quarter-repeating and virgule escapement, playing music on the hour or at will.

CHF 9,000 - 13,000

USD 9,500 - 14,000 / EUR 7,500 - 11,000

C. Three-body, Empire, polished with stepped curved bezels, reeded band. Gilt-metal cuvette hinged to the movement ring. D. White enamel with Arabic numerals, outer minute divisions. Blued steel Breguet hands. M. 53 mm., matte gilt, half-plate, spring barrel for the going train, virgule escapement, three-arm balance, fl at balance spring, polished steel endpiece, index regulator, repeating on blued steel gongs activated by depressing the pendant, polished steel repeating work on the backplate, large barrel for the musical train with fi nely foliate engraved upper surface, polished steel stopwork, sur-plateau brass musical disc pinned on both sides, 22 individual tuned steel teeth playing on both sides of the disc. Diam. 58 mm.


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Grading System
Grade: AA

Very good
Case: 3-19

Good

Dent(s)
Movement: 3*

Good

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense
Dial: 2-01

Very good

HANDS Original

Notes

A fi ne Swiss musical watch in good condition and of large size. The foliate engraving on the musical barrel is reminiscent of that found on pieces by Jaquet Droz in the late 18th century and may well have been inspired by such a watch. The use of the virgule escapement is unusual and attests to the horological knowledge of the maker in producing a musical watch of better fi nish than most of this type