Important Collectors' Wristwatches, P...

Hong Kong, Jun 27, 2009

LOT 294

Chinoiserie Vacheron & Constantin, Genève, movement No. 397705, case by Verger Frères, No. 8947, retailed by Lang, Paris. Made in 1925. Very fine, elegant and rare, thin, Art Deco, 18K yellow gold, red and blue cloisonné enamel, lobed keyless dress watch.

HKD 100,000 - 150,000

USD 14,000 - 22,000 / EUR 10,000 - 15,000

C. Three-body, square with lobed corners, red enamel back with central cloisonné panel decorated with blue and gold stylized flower and scrolls, blue enamel band and pendant with gold decoration, red enamel bezel, pearl winding crown. D. Brushed silver with stylized raised blue enamel Arabic numerals, outer dot minute divisions. Blued steel serpentine hands. M. Cal. 15???, rhodium-plated, 18 jewels, straight-line lever escapement, cut bimetallic compensation balance with eight adjustments, blued steel flat balance spring, index regulator. Dial and movement signed Vacheron & Constantin, case punched with Verger Frères mark. Dim. 42 x 42 mm.


LOADING IMAGES
Click to full view
Image

Grading System
Grade: AAA

Excellent

Case: 3-26

Good

Upgraded

Movement: 3*

Good

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense

Dial: 3-01

Good

HANDS Original

Notes

Verger Two generations of designers and casemakers. The firm was founded by Ferdinand Verger in 1872, Place des Victoires à Paris. Verger had two sons, Georges and Henri. In 1896 the trade mark ?F.V.? was registered. Ferdinand Verger bought the firm of Lépine, Place des Victoires, from Roux in 1901, and in 1914 he sold the remaining stock to Louis Leroy but kept the trademark, which he registered again in 1917. Successors of their father in 1911, Georges and Henri settled at 51 rue Sainte Anne under the name of Verger Frères. They were the Paris agent for Vacheron & Constantin. Not only wholesalers but also designers and casemakers, they produced cases for the finest jewelers of the world, including Boucheron, Mauboussin, Ostertag, Tiffany, La Cloche, Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Gübelin and even Hauser-Zivy y Cia. in Mexico. They employed up to 40 craftsmen in Paris, not only jewelers, to produce cases and to fit the movements, but also watchmakers for adjusting and after-sale service of the movements. Some of their models are very original, such as the so-called ?Bras en l'air?, made with a figure of the Buddha, a snake charmer or a Mandarin; the famous ?radiateur?, often sold as a purse clasp; the ?montres à volets? produced for Ostertag, Van Cleef & Arpels, Boucheron, Mauboussin, Gübelin and Tiffany; and the celebrated ?Montre Cadenas? specially designed for Van Cleef & Arpels.