Important Jewelry, Watches and Wristw...

Hong Kong, Furama Hotel, Jun 07, 1999

LOT 527

Freres Rochat, Geneva, circa 1820. Very fine 18K gold, gem-set singing bird box with matching key.

HKD 280,000 - 350,000

USD 40,000 - 50,000

C. Double body engine turned, the hinged back opening on a compartment for the key, the cover chased with foliage on a matted ground and with turquoise cabochon set rosettes with ruby accents. The lid of the singing bird chased, with a ruby and emerald set composition of flowers and foliage. Singing bird movement: rectangular plates with turned pillars, fusee with chain, fly regulator, rectangular bellow, the bird with moving wings, tail, beak and turning head, controlled by a stack of 8 cams, gold engraved grill. Signed with the Rochat F.R. punch mark on the back plate. Dim. 76 x 51 x 16 mm.


LOADING IMAGES
Click to full view
Image
Grading System
Grade: AAA

Excellent
Case: 4-18

Fair

Spotted
Movement: *3

Good

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense

Notes

The Rochat Brothers, Ami Napoleon and Louis, 140, rue de Coutance, between 1810 and 1835. They were trained by their father, Pierre Rochat, in the family workshop at a place called "Chet Meillan" an Brassus, in the Vallee de Joux lake region, Switzerland. At the beginning they worked for Jaquet-Droz and Leschot. After having lost their fortune in building speculations, they came to Geneva in 1815 and prospered again by making most curious marvels of small mechanics, which were highly appreciated by connoisseurs and sold to the principal courts of Europe. Ami Napoleon Rochat, the eldest son, made a speciality of the singing bird boxes which established the reputation of the name Rochat all over the world. The work was absolutely perfect, namely the singing, the extreme complication and smallness of the mechanism, the bird opening its beak and turning its head when singing.