Minute repeating watches with Carillon Westminster are very rare. They were the speciality of Edouard JeanRichard inLe Locle. An identical watch signed by Bernard JeanneretJean-Guy, in the Musée International d'Horlogerie, in La Chaux-de-Fonds, is illustrated in A. Chapuis, Grands Artisans de la Chronométrie, p. 227, fig. 161-162.Blancpain and Winterthur.The theft suffered by the manufacturer Blancpain is still remembered today as one that shocked the world of horology; one that raised many questions regarding the German museum security system, and the whereabouts of a selection of 28 of the most precious timepieces from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.The robbery occurred on the night of November 19, 1994 at the Deutsches Museum in Munich. The museum was hosting an international exhibition dedicated to 400 years of horology and among the many exhibitors was Blancpain, who had loaned some 83 of the most important timepieces from its collection. The museum was broken into from the museum's roof, and of those 83 watches loaned by Blancpain, 28 were stolen(13 contemporary watches and 15 pocket watches) and several were destroyed in the process. The burglars tripped off a silent alarm within the museum, and the night guard on duty immediately notified the police, who, after a helicopter search was unable to locate the thieves.Despite the many strong efforts to recover the watches, they seem to have vanished. The insurance company, Wintherthur, was therefore obliged to remit the premium bond to Blancpain.And then, last year, on August 20, 1998, some four years following the robbery, the police were notified of an attempt to sell a collection of timepieces for 300,000 DM. An undercover police officer, disguised as a potential buyer met the sellers of the timepieces in a parking lot in Munich, and four men were detained, three Germans and one Greek.The police and the insurance company did not hesitate to notify Blancpain of the recovery. But, very much to the disappointment of Blancpain, the timepieces were very badly damaged. Among that which suffered the worst damage, was the most important a gold and enamel quarter repeating musical watch, circa 1810, with concealed erotic automaton scene. Happily, only the outer scene was damaged.At the time of the recovery, it was unclear who would reclaim the timepieces which were now the property of the insurance company, Wintherthur. Today, 26 of these watches representing 25 lots are being offered for sale by Antiquorum, on behalf of Winterthur.