Important Watches, Collector's Wristw...

The Ritz-carlton Hotel, Jun 06, 2004

LOT 403

J(ean) Baptiste Baillon a Paris, No. 2448, circa 1750. Extremely fine and important 20K gold quarter-repeating à toc watch with à tact option, in early engine-turned case.

HKD 45,000 - 60,000

EUR 4,500 - 6,500 / USD 6,000 - 8,000

Sold: HKD 23,575

C. Two-body, Louis XV, by master casemaker Joseph Quetin, back engine-turned in a variety of patterns, pronounced hinge. D. White enamel, Roman numerals, outer minute divisions with five-minute Arabic markers, winding aperture at 2 o?clock. Gold ?Louis XV? hands. M. 38 mm, hinged, frosted gilt full-plate with baluster pillars, fusee and chain, verge escapement, brass balance with flat balance spring, micrometric potence adjustment, continental cock with endstone, repeating on gold blocks of the case by depressing the pendant.Signed on dial and movement.Diam. 46 mm.


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Grading System
Grade:
Case: 3

Good
Movement: 3*

Good

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense
Dial: 3 - 15 - 01

Notes

This is an excellent example of an early engine-turned watch made by an eminent maker. It appears that the artist wanted to show all the different patterns his rose engine was capable of; he succeeded splendidly. Jean Baptiste III Albert Baillon (d. 1772) Was made ?Valet de Chambre ?Horloger Ordinaire de la Reine? in 1727, ?Premier Valet de Chambre de la Reine? (before1748), then ?Premier Valet de Chambre? and ?Valet de Chambre-Horloger Ordinaire de la Dauphine Marie-Antoinette? in 1770. He was established in the Place Dauphine in 1738 and the rue Dauphine after 1751. Jean-Baptiste III Baillon was one of the most important clockmakers of the 18th century, in terms of the extent of his business, and an extremely wealthy man. Berthoud described his establishment as: ?the finest and richest Clock Shop? and said that his house in Saint-Germain was ?a kind of Factory. It is full of Workmen continually laboring for him? for he alone makes a large proportion of the Clocks and Watches (of Paris).? Joseph Quetin Received as master casemaker on May 5, 1742. Established Rue de la Huchette in 1743, and place du Marché Neuf in 1747. Retired to Châtillon-sur-Loire in 1772, giving up his mastership officially in 1775. He supplied cases to F. Baillon, J.B. Baillon, Chalon, Du Four, Frédéric Duval, J.J. Gudin, and Julien Le Roy. His work is in the Louvre, in the Musées royaux d?Art et d?Histoire in Brussels, and others. ?Les Ouvriers du Temps?, Jean-Dominique Augarde, Editions Antiquorum, Genève, 1996.