Collector's Pocket Watches, Wristwatc...

Noga Hilton, Geneva, Apr 12, 2003

LOT 12

Tribute to Kosciuszko Patek i Spólka W GENEWIE, No. 1963, made for the Polish market in 1846, sold on July 15, 1849. Fine and very rare 18K gold and painted on enamel lady?s pendant watch with portrait of Tadeusz Kosciuszko and etched enamel dial featuring Poland?s coat of arms. Accompanied by a ?L.M. Lilpop, Warszawa, ul. Wierzbowa No. 3? fitted box and the Extract from the Archives.

CHF 11,000 - 13,000

EUR 7,600 - 9,000 / USD 8,200 - 9,600

Sold: CHF 12,075

C. Four-body, ?bassine et filets? with flat coin-edge band, spring-loaded back with finely engraved and black champlevé enamel portrait of Kosciuszko within a gold frame, black champlevé edges with gold stylized foliage, gold hinged cuvette. D. White enamel with letters ?POLSKA I LITWA? (Poland and Lithuania) for the numerals, center finely etched with Poland and Lithuania?s coat of arms. Blued steel Breguet hands. M. 29 mm. (13???), Cal. 4, frosted gilt, hanging barrel, cylinder escapement, three-arm gilt balance with flat balance spring. Signed on the cuvette in Polish, movement punched with Patek?s trademark. Diam. 33 mm.


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Grading System
Grade: AA

Very good
Case: 3 - 22
Movement: 3*

Good

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense
Dial: 3 - 22 - 01

Notes

The portrait of Kosciuszko, a Polish and American national hero, was a very popular motif in watches made for the Polish market. The lettering on the dial refers to the union between Poland and Lithuania which lasted a few hundred years. The watch features a very unusual etched dial decoration, sometimes used by the company in the early days, but never with such an elaborate pattern. Tadeusz Kosciuszko (1746-1817) a political and military leader with liberal views and great military talent, graduated from the Warsaw cadet corps (1769) and the Paris Military Academy (1774). He took part, as a volunteer, in the American War of Independence as a general in Washington?s army. In 1784 he returned home and served in the Polish army. As the Supreme Commander of the Polish forces, he led the 1794 uprising in Poland, Belarus and Lithuania, defending the Commonwealth against the Russians and Prussians. Defeated and seriously wounded, he spent two years in a Russian prison, from which he was released in 1796. Kosciuszko died in Switzerland, and his body was transferred to Poland. He is buried in Krakow.