Jan Jerzy Herbst (1784 ? 1843). One of the most successful of Warsaw watchmakers, he finished his apprenticeship in 1809 and on July 30, 1809 became free of the Guild upon the interesting condition that he would ?marry a daughter of watchmaker Michal Krantz?. His masterpieces, made in 1811, were an 8 day repeating table clock with days of the week and date and a ?minute watch? (minute-repeating watch?). In 1813 he is recorded as working with Krantz at Krakowskie Przedmiescie. After 1836 he was established in the former workshop of his father-in-law, and owned the entire building. He financed many projects and lent money to members of the Polish aristocracy, such as Count Korwin Kossakowski or Count Henryk Malachowski. Very few of his watches have survived. We know of only three, one in a private American collection, another, with a silver dial, formerly in the Przypkowski Museum (now stolen) and the present watch, no doubt the most interesting of the three. Breguet?s ?souscription? watches were greatly appreciated in Poland. Many were sold there, some by Maleszewski (see note to lot No. 5). Their design was copied by some Polish watchmakers. Two such watches have survived, this one and one by Joseph Zabderowicz from Rzeszów (now in an American collection). The present watch is remarkable because it is a repeater (Breguet himself produced only one repeating souscription watch, No. 876), and because of its unusual repetition system, a cross between Breguet?s all-or-nothing system and one sometimes used in clocks, employing a single cam, with every hour step divided into four quarter steps. Jaquet-Droz used this system on occasion for watches. The ruby cylinder escapement, though not hanging but in form of a ruby insert in the middle part, clearly shows Herbst?s admiration for Breguet, who would no doubt have been impressed by this watch. Literature: Zegarmistrzowie Warszawscy XIX wieku by Wieslaw Glebocki, Warszawa, 1992.