Important Modern & Vintage Timepieces
Geneva, May 10, 2025
LOT 478
VENUS AND MARS BY LES FRERES HUAUT
CHF 6,000 - 10,000
HKD 57,000 - 95,000 / USD 7,400 - 12,300 / EUR 6,500 - 10,800TO BE SOLD WITHOUT RESERVE
Sold: CHF 15,000
Very fine and rare 20K gold and painted on enamel single-hand pendant watch, case painted on enamel and signed by the frères Huaud.
“Bassine” shaped case, back very finely painted on enamel, in the pointillistic technique, with a scene depicting Venus and Mars with Cupid, four vignettes painted with rural landscapes after engravings by Gabriel Perelle, the inside finely painted with a traveler among ruins, engraved spit bezel.
White enamel on gold dial, wide chapter ring with bold radial Roman numerals and half-hour marks, center painted with Venus and Mars. Single brass hand.
“Bassine” shaped case, back very finely painted on enamel, in the pointillistic technique, with a scene depicting Venus and Mars with Cupid, four vignettes painted with rural landscapes after engravings by Gabriel Perelle, the inside finely painted with a traveler among ruins, engraved spit bezel.
White enamel on gold dial, wide chapter ring with bold radial Roman numerals and half-hour marks, center painted with Venus and Mars. Single brass hand.
| Grading System | |
|---|---|
Grade: AAA |
Excellent |
Case: 3-8 |
Good Slightly scratched |
Movement: 3-8* |
Good Slightly scratched Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense |
Dial: 3-32-04 |
Good Slightly restored HANDS Later |
Brand Vollenhove
Year 1690
Material 22K gold
Caliber 33 mm, hinged, frosted gilt full plate with baluster pillars, fusee and chain, endless screw mainspring set-up, four-wheel train, verge escapement, steel balance with flat balance spring, continental Dutch style cock.
Diameter 40 mm.
Signature on the movement, case signed “Les deux frères Huaut P.d.S.A.E.B. a Berlin” (peintres de Son Altesse Electeur de Brandebourg à Berlin).
Notes
This watch is pictured in “Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers” by Britten, p. 184, Fig. 242.The movement of the present watch is original; it was transformed around mid-18th century from back to front winding, which explains the presence of a winding hole on the dial. It was this transformation which probably caused the chip to the dial; the restoration no doubt dates from that period. The mechanism, with its single hand, remains otherwise intact.For another watch by Vollenhove with high-tide indications see Antiquorum, April 1998.