The Quarter Millennium of Vacheron Co...

Geneva, Apr 03, 2005

LOT 182

?King Fouad? Vacheron & Constantin, Genève, No. 402833, case No. 251058. Started in 1914, presented to King Fouad I of Egypt, by the Swiss expatriate community in 1929. Exceptionally fine, highly important and unique, large 18K yellow gold and enamel, keyless, astronomical carillon trip minute-repeating, grande and petite sonnerie with silence, two-train clockwatch with split-seconds chronograph, 30-minute register, perpetual calendar and phases and age of the moon. Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity.

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Sold: CHF 3,306,250

C. Four-body, massive, ?bassine à filets?, polished, back with the arms of King Fouad the First in polychromeenamel, hinged gold cuvette inscribed ?A Sa Majesté, Fouad 1er, Hommage de la Colonie Suisse d?Egypte, 1929?.D. Matte silver, black champlevé upright Arabic numerals, outer minute track with chronograph track dividedinto fifths with five-minute/seconds Arabic markers, aperture for the day and date at 12, concentric leap yearand month dial at 9, 30-minute recorder at 3, subsidiary seconds with moon phase aperture and lunar age sectorat 6. Blued steel Breguet hands. M. Cal. R.A. 21??? 74/12, maillechort, ?fausses côtes? decoration, 46 jewels, twotrains, straight line lever escapement, cut bimetallic compensation balance with eight adjustments, improvedVacheron & Constantin micrometer regulator (Patents CH101652, registered 1 November 1923 and CH105967,registered 1 November 1924), tandem winding, split-seconds mechanism set on the back plate, striking on threegongs, repeating on three gongs by three hammers through trip in the band, grande/petite sonnerie andstrike/silent levers on the band, chronograph pusher co-axial to the winding crown, split seconds via a pusher inthe band.Dial, case and movement signed.Diam. 67 mm.


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Grading System
Grade:
Case: 2

Very good
Movement: 2

Very good
Dial: 2 - 01

Notes

King Fouad I of Egypt The son of Khedive Ismail, he became the first King of Egypt of the modern era. He became sultan in 1917. As sultan, he ruled the dominion of Egypt and later became king when Britain granted Egypt independence in 1922, reigning until his death on April 28, 1936. He was known to be a strong ally to the British Crown from which he was given the title "King of Egypt" after 1922. During his reign the 1919 Revolution erupted, under the leadership of Saad Zaghloul. Consequently, years later and according to February 28, 1922 declaration, Britain had to declare Egypt an independent sovereign state with some reservations. Thus in 1922, Sultan Fouad declared himself the King of Egypt, issued the constitution in April of the same year, and inaugurated the new parliament in April 1924. In his reign, the first national cabinet, headed by Said Zaghloul, was formed. His son became his successor as King Farouk, who was king of Egypt from 1937 to 1952. The present watch was presented to King Fouad by the group of Swiss expatriates living in Egypt in July 1929, to commemorate the King's visit to Switzerland. The case back displays the Egyptian royal family's coat of arms in traditional Geneva enamel, and the inside case back is inscribed with the homage of the Swiss colony in Egypt. Not surprisingly, the watch took three-and-a-half years to make and even in 1929, it cost a small fortune.