Exceptional Horological Sale Celebrat...

Hotel Noga Hilton, Geneva, Apr 24, 2004

LOT 109

Wolf Tooth Train Lepine, Invenit et fecit, No. 5627, circa 1788. Very fine and extremely rare 18K gold and enamel, á toc half-quarter repeating watch with single hammer and wolf teeth on both wheel trains.

CHF 25,000 - 30,000

EUR 15,800 - 19,000 / USD 19,500 - 23,500

Sold: CHF 23,000

C. Double-body, of Lépine type by master casemaker Guil-laume Mermillod, No. 745, polished, concealed hinge, fixed front bezel. Gilt brass hinged cuvette signed "Lépine horloger du Roy à Paris".D. White enamel with Arabic numerals and outer Arabic date ring. Gold skeleton "fleur-de-lis" hands.M. 45 mm (20???), gilt brass, early Lépine caliber with free-standing barrel, wolf teeth on all wheels, virgule escapement with brass escape wheel, plain brass three-arm balance with each arm curved in the center, flat balance spring, Lépine repetition system with LeRoy?s anchor governor and with the wolf-tooth train, repeating by single polished hammer on the movement adapter ring by depressing the pendant. Signed on the dial and the cuvette.Diam. 51 mm.


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Grading System
Grade:
Case: 3

Good
Movement: 3*

Good

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense
Dial: 3 - 01

Notes

This watch features most of Lepine?s horological inventions: In 1763 he invented a new type of repeating mechanism in which the hour and quarter racks were placed directly on the winding arbor. The new design was a great improvement, eliminating the fragile winding chain. It also gave the system better stability, decreased friction, saved room and simplified the mechanism. This was a great improvement in repeating watches. The 1763 Mémoir of the Académie des Sciences, in the chapter "Machines ou inventions approuvées par l?Académie en 1763", gives a very favorable report of Lépine?s invention. About 25 years later, around 1788, when this watch was made, Lepine simplified his repeating system, designing a mechanism striking hours, quarters and sometimes half-quarters on a single hammer. The system is incorporated in our watch, which features: the virgule escapement; a wolf-tooth wheel train; wolf teeth being considerably stronger than regular symmetrical ones, Lepine used them on the racks of most of his repetition work; a 2-piece case with conce led hinge mounting the movement to the case