105th Auction

2021/11/13

Lot 180

Perseval à Reims

A rare quarter hour / hour repeating coach watch with quarter hour strike and alarm - with original leather transport case and original key

estimated
11.00015.000 €
Price realized
-
specific features
Case
Silver, the back side with applied shagreen, rear bell, sound holes, string for repetition.
Dial
Enamel.
Movement
Full plate movement, chain/fusee, 2 barrels, 2 hammers, verge escapement, three-arm brass balance.
Diam.107 mm
Circa1810
Ctry.France
Wt.898 g


The identity of the watchmaker Perseval or Persevalle is not completely clear. What we know is that he worked in Reims around 1800.
In Henry Louis Belmont's book "La montre: méthodes & outillages de fabrication du XVIe au XIXe siècle: de la naissance de la montre à la période proto-industrielle", he is listed as C. Perseval, who presented a machine for making files at the industrial exhibition in Reims. Others mention a Michel François Persevalle as a watchmaker in Reims and inventor of this machine.
Source: www.watch-wiki.org/index.php?title=Perseval_-_Persevalle, as of 10/29/2021


The so-called coach clocks or coach watches are de facto travel clocks, early spring-driven mechanical clocks dating from the time when travellers began to lay value on having accurate timekeepers with them on their journeys. Basically these clocks were oversized pendant or pocket watches that - due to their size - obviously could not be worn on the body. The size was a prerequisite, however, since this type of timepiece needed a strong and robust case and a large balance that was not too sensitive to the environment. Carriage clocks have a large dial on the front that is usually enamel; champlevé or repoussé techniques were used less frequently. They are built with a robust verge movement sitting between two round plates connected with finely cut baluster columns that were often decorated with delicate chasing or fluting. The barrels for clock, strike and alarm are usually finely engraved. The hour strike mechanism originally used a locking disc, which was later replaced by a rack that was capable of repeating. To ensure that the clocks did not suffer during transport, they were normally protected by several cases and additional outer cases often coated with tortoise shell, or they had leather covers. Early clocks were created from firegilt bronze, later the majority of them were made from silver; they usually have a diameter between 75 and 200 mm.