OMEGAMANIA

Geneva, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Du Rhône, Apr 15, 2007

LOT 43

?ROSSIGNOL?

Omega, No. 7583637, case number 7550985, Ref. 13.309, the case by R. Lalique. Movement and movement case sold to Lalique in 1931. Unique and exceptionally fine, frosted glass and chrome eight-day going Art Deco mantel clock.

CHF 8,000 - 10,000

EUR 5,000 - 6,300 / USD 6,500 - 8,300

Sold: CHF 40,120

C. Round, the front decorated with 12 nightingales and black painted Arabic hours, feather-spray central decoration, the back chromed, raised on a round foot. D. Steel ?Sword? hands. M. Cal 59.8D, 3/4 plate, nickel plated, 15 jewels, straight-line lever escapement, cut bimetallic compensation balance, blued-steel breguet balance spring. Case signed R. Lalique, movement signed Omega. Diam 19.5cm, height including base, 21.5 cm.


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Grading System
Grade:
Case: 3

Good

Movement: 3

Good

Dial: 01

HANDS Original

Notes

The present clock is an excellent example of the collaboration between Omega and the top designers of the day. René Lalique is widely recognized as one of the greatest glassmakers to have ever worked in France and his pieces have come to epitomize French Art Deco. The information concerning this clock is drawn from Félix Marcilhac's "Catalogue Raisonné de l'oeuvre de verre de R. Lalique", Les éditions de l'amateur, Paris 1994, ref. 735, p. 374. The model was created on February 10, 1931 and was illustrated in the 1932 catalogue. Provenance : a descendant of R. Lalique. - René Lalique (1860 -1945). a French jeweler, Lalique was trained in Paris and London, and in 1885 took over the workshop of the Parisian jeweler Jules d'Estape. He embarked on a career that revolutionized jewelery design, preferring vividly colored gemstones over the more traditional precious stones. Motifs such as nymphs and flowers were typical of Lalique's Art Nouveau work, and his clients included the actress Sarah Bernhardt. In 1898 he began working with glass, which gradually replaced jewelery as the focus of his talent. His glassware came to embody the flamboyant 1920?s Art Deco style. In the 1925 Exposition des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris he exhibited his "Tourbillon" or "Whirlwind" vases, in which he clearly embraced the highly geometric style of the Jazz Age.