99th Auction
2019/5/11
Lot 199
Breguet à Paris, 61 mm, 99 g, circa 1790
An ultra-thin, elegant gold enamel pocket watch with cylinder escapement produced for the German market
Case: 18k gold, back engine-turned and translucent cobalt blue enamelled, inscription "Jede Secunde erinnert mich an unsre Liebe" (Every Second Reminds Me of Our Love), in the center flower with diamonds, glazed protective case. Dial: enamel. Movm.: "Lepine" caliber, three-arm brass balance.
Although signed Breguet, the watch bears no number or gold marks, and therefore cannot be identified as a watch sold by the company. However, the movement caliber, the style and technique of decoration on the case and the size are identical to Breguet No. 135, a watch from the second series, sold in 1792 and illustrated and described in The Art of Breguet by George Daniels. Daniels notes that Breguets partnership with Xavier Gide, a merchant horologist, which began in 1787, introduced some 50,000 livres of stock to the company, some in the form of movements and others as completed watches. It seems certain that the watch, recorded in the Breguet books, and the very similar example now offered for sale, were certainly manufactured by the same workshop and goldsmith.
Literature: Daniels, G., The Art of Breguet, Sothebys, 1975, Colour pl. XII, ill. 90a, b.
An ultra-thin, elegant gold enamel pocket watch with cylinder escapement produced for the German market
Case: 18k gold, back engine-turned and translucent cobalt blue enamelled, inscription "Jede Secunde erinnert mich an unsre Liebe" (Every Second Reminds Me of Our Love), in the center flower with diamonds, glazed protective case. Dial: enamel. Movm.: "Lepine" caliber, three-arm brass balance.
Although signed Breguet, the watch bears no number or gold marks, and therefore cannot be identified as a watch sold by the company. However, the movement caliber, the style and technique of decoration on the case and the size are identical to Breguet No. 135, a watch from the second series, sold in 1792 and illustrated and described in The Art of Breguet by George Daniels. Daniels notes that Breguets partnership with Xavier Gide, a merchant horologist, which began in 1787, introduced some 50,000 livres of stock to the company, some in the form of movements and others as completed watches. It seems certain that the watch, recorded in the Breguet books, and the very similar example now offered for sale, were certainly manufactured by the same workshop and goldsmith.
Literature: Daniels, G., The Art of Breguet, Sothebys, 1975, Colour pl. XII, ill. 90a, b.
Sold
estimated
10.000—15.000 €
Price realized
10.000 €