91st Auction
2015/5/16
Lot 117
Gregson, Hor. du Roy à Paris, Case No. 2180, 54 mm, 102 g, circa 1788
A gentleman's very fine and decorative gold enamel pocket watch with virgule escapement
Case: protecting case - copper, gilt, à goutte, glazed on one side. Inner case - 22k gold and enamel, engraved golden flower border on a blue ground, the back side with translucid pale blue enamel over an lavishly engine-turned ground. Dial: enamel, Arabic numerals, signed, gold arrow-shaped hands. Movm.: bridge movement, keywind, frosted, gilt, virgule escapement, going barrel, three-arm brass balance.
Jean-Pierre Gregson
Jean-Pierre Gregson originally came from England; he was appointed clockmaker to the royal court in Paris in 1776. The importance of his position was corroborated by the fact that in 1786 he was appointed a member of the commission for the establishment of a royal manufactory. The other members were the most famous makers of France - Breguet, Berthoud and Lepaute. Gregson was one of the first makers of his time to use Lépine's bridge caliber. However, after the outbreak of the French Revolution a position as maker to the court was not beneficial to Gregson's business anymore, so he abandoned the title quickly. While his repeating clock no. 2181 was still signed "Hor du Roy", no. 2276 only bore the signature "Hger à Paris". In 1790 Gregson returned to London to be safe. He established a new workshop and called it "Gregson London". He continued to build French style clocks and kept his old numbering system.
Source: Tardy "Dictionnaire des Horlogers Francais", Paris 1972, p. 272 and http://watch-wiki.de/index.php?title=Gregson,_Jean_Pierre, as of 03/22/2011.
An almost identical watch is illustrated and described in: "The Camerer Cuss Book of Antique Watches", Antique Collectors' Club Ltd, 1976, p. 154, 155.
A gentleman's very fine and decorative gold enamel pocket watch with virgule escapement
Case: protecting case - copper, gilt, à goutte, glazed on one side. Inner case - 22k gold and enamel, engraved golden flower border on a blue ground, the back side with translucid pale blue enamel over an lavishly engine-turned ground. Dial: enamel, Arabic numerals, signed, gold arrow-shaped hands. Movm.: bridge movement, keywind, frosted, gilt, virgule escapement, going barrel, three-arm brass balance.
Jean-Pierre Gregson
Jean-Pierre Gregson originally came from England; he was appointed clockmaker to the royal court in Paris in 1776. The importance of his position was corroborated by the fact that in 1786 he was appointed a member of the commission for the establishment of a royal manufactory. The other members were the most famous makers of France - Breguet, Berthoud and Lepaute. Gregson was one of the first makers of his time to use Lépine's bridge caliber. However, after the outbreak of the French Revolution a position as maker to the court was not beneficial to Gregson's business anymore, so he abandoned the title quickly. While his repeating clock no. 2181 was still signed "Hor du Roy", no. 2276 only bore the signature "Hger à Paris". In 1790 Gregson returned to London to be safe. He established a new workshop and called it "Gregson London". He continued to build French style clocks and kept his old numbering system.
Source: Tardy "Dictionnaire des Horlogers Francais", Paris 1972, p. 272 and http://watch-wiki.de/index.php?title=Gregson,_Jean_Pierre, as of 03/22/2011.
An almost identical watch is illustrated and described in: "The Camerer Cuss Book of Antique Watches", Antique Collectors' Club Ltd, 1976, p. 154, 155.
Sold
estimated
8.800—10.000 €
Price realized
8.100 €