Exceptional Horological Works of Art

Geneva, Oct 19, 2002

LOT 68

Dumas, Elève du Gouvernement, No. 21, circa 1840. Very fine and extremely rare silver and gold pocket chronometer made under the direction of Henri Motel, with original ratchet key.

CHF 20,000 - 25,000

EUR 13,000 - 16,000

Sold: CHF 29,900

C. Four-body, forme quatre baguettes, by Jules Perot (Master mark), with gold rims, engine-turned back and ribbed band. Hinged silver cuvette. D. White enamel with radial Roman numerals and subsidiary seconds. Blued steel Breguet hands. M. 22???, gilt brass bar caliber with going barrel, Louis Berthoud type pivoted detent escapement, cut bimetallic two-arm compensation balance with poising and timing screws, free-sprung blued steel helical balance spring with terminal curves. Signed on the cuvette. Diam. 58 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

Notes

A very fine example of a French pocket chronometer made by a pupil of Auguste Louis Berthoud, Louis Berthoud?s grandson and nephew of Henri Motel. This caliber, of which only two examples are known, has the particularity of allowing an unobstructed view of the extremely fine Louis Berthoud pivoted detent escapement, usually set between plates. This chronometer is almost identical to the pocket chronometer No. 271 by Henri Motel. Both chronometers are described and illus-trated in: J.-C. Sabrier, "La Longitude en mer à l?heure de Louis Berthoud et de Henri Motel", Antiquorum Editions, Geneva, 1993, p. 622, fig. 169 and 170. Onésime Dumas (1824-1889). Was Louis Berthoud?s grandson and the nephew of Henri Motel. He was placed by the Government, in 1837, as pupil to Louis-Frédéric Perrelet, then in charge of the Ecole des Horlogers de la Marine, since 1832. When Perrelet resigned in December 1839 for health reasons, and Charles-Auguste Berthoud was appointed as his successor by the Ministre de la Marine to complete the instruction of his pupils, Onésime Dumas already had two and a half years of apprenticeship. When he left the school, he worked for a short period with Motel. Therefore, the very first chronometers made by Onésime Dumas were very similar to those produced by Louis Berthoud and later by his two sons. Working with his uncle, he made a few chronometers with the highly refined caliber which ensured the fame of Henri Motel. He then succeeded to Gannery in Saint-Nicolas d?Aliermont, in 1851. The chronometer No. 421, produced the same year, carries both their signatures. He employed between 12 and 15 craftsmen and exhibited precision horology at Rouen in 1856. He signed "Dumas Successeur de Gannery". His name was given to a new full plate caliber, very much inspired by the English style, not as elegant nor refined as that of Motel, but less expensive to produce, robust and reliable. It was adopted by most other French makers. Literature: J.-C. Sabrier: "La Longitude en Mer à l?Heure de Louis Berthoud et Henri Motel", Antiquorum Editions, Genève 1993.