The Private Collection of Theodor Beyer

Hotel Baur Au Lac, Zurich, Nov 16, 2003

LOT 5

Cushion-Shaped Watch. German, circa 1590. Fine and rare round gilt metal, hour-striking, single-hand, two-train, large pendant clockwatch with stackfreed, foliot and hog's bristle regulator.

CHF 25,000 - 30,000

EUR 16,000 - 20,000 / USD 18,500 - 22,000

C. Double-body, tambour-like but with cushioned band and slightly domed covers, hinged bezel engraved with repeated pattern, front cover originally pierced and later cut out for viewing the dial, band and back pierced for the sound and decorated with foliate and floral motifs, short pendant and loose ring. D. Gilt metal, hinged to the case, outer chapter with twelve Roman numerals divided for quarters, inner ring with 13 to 24 hour Arabic numerals, with German style with "Z" for "2", center engraved with wind rose and sun-ray motifs. Blued-steel hand. M. 47.2 mm, gilt brass full plate with four rectangular pillars, open mainspring attached to the plate,C-shaped stackfreed, four-wheel iron train (with later brass escape wheel), verge escapement, steel foliot, hog's bristle mounted on a pivoted adjustable lever, small gilt cock in the shape of a sea serpent, striking train driven by a open mainspring attached to the barrel with five-wheel iron train, count wheel on the back plate, the bell mounted to the bottom of the case.Diam. 64 mm.


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Grading System
Grade: AA

Very good
Case: 3-18

Good

Spotted
Movement: 4-22*

Fair

Later original

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense
Dial: 3-23-05

Good

Later

HANDS Luminous material reapplied

Notes

After tambour-shaped watches, a variation appeared around 1570, in which the decoration remained similar but the forms of both band and covers became more ovoid. This was the beginning of the trend for slimmer and more easily wearable watches. Watches from this period are very rare, almost as rare as the tambour-shaped watches that preceded them.The dial is engraved with a wind rose, which can be traced back to the Temple of the Winds in Athens. During the Renaissance, the translation of the Corpus Hermeticum by Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499) revived the cult of the sun based on the ancient Egyptian mysteries. At that time, the creation of the world was symbolized by the depiction of God placing his tabernacle in the sun, and thereby illuminating and breathing life into the entire cosmos, as described in "Philosophia Sacra", Frankfurt, 1626. The revival of these various mystical views of the sun as the symbolic center of God's tabernacle naturally led to the choice of the sun as a decoration of compasses and watch dials. These were mysterious and godly devices at the time.A similar watch was sold by Antiquorum in the Lord Sandberg Collection, March 31 and April 1, 2001, lot 69.