Important Collector's Watches, Pocket...

Geneva, Nov 11, 2007

LOT 180

A Monsieur Regel Breguet, No. 1565, completed in An 13, sold to Monsieur Regel on April 22, 1806 for 1835 Francs Extremely fine and equally rare, 20K rose gold, quarter-repeating à toc "montre repetition à ponts" pocket watch with jump hour hand and ruby cylinder escapement. Accompanied by a copy of Certificate 3173, signed by George Brown.

CHF 60,000 - 80,000

EUR 35,000 - 50,000 / USD 50,000 - 65,000

C. Four-body, ?forme collier?, No. 654 by master casemaker Amy Gros, back and band engine-turned, polished bezel and border. Hinged gold cuvette. D. White enamel, No. 121 by master dial maker Borel, secured by a blued steel screw, secret signature below 12, Breguet numerals, outer minute track. Blued steel Breguet hands. M. 52 mm (23'''), gilt, bridge caliber with hanging barrel, jeweled to the center, overhanging ruby cylinder escapement, three-arm brass balance, blued steel flat balance spring with bimetallic compensation curb on the index regulator, pare-chute shockpreventing device on the upper pivot, Breguet-type all-or-nothing repeating system with vertical lifters, repeating by single hammer on gold block in the case activated by a pull-and-twist piston in the band at 1 o?clock. Dial and case signed, movement numbered on the dial plate. Diam. 55 mm.


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Grading System
Grade:
Case: 3

Good
Movement: 3*

Good

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense
Dial: 3-50-01

Good

Refreshed

HANDS Original

Notes

The present watch comes from a series of seventeen repeaters finished by Decombaz, one of the most skilled of Breguet's workers and responsible for his famous Perpetuelles. No. 1565 appears to be the only watch known from this series. It features a very reliable Breguet-type repeating mechanism which allows for a single hammer, a jump hour mechanism simplifying the reading, and his ingenious hanging ruby cylinder escapement. The watch has been finished with extra care, exemplified by the jeweling which goes to the center wheel, the gold cuvette, and the 20 carat gold used for the case.
In the entire series, this was the only watch that was finished with the entire train jeweled. ?5 trous au rouage? were jeweled by Hooker, an English jewel piercer whom Breguet brought, or rather smuggled, from England to Paris. The jeweling process took Hooker three days from start to finish. The making of this watch took over a year, from 9 Frimaire An 12 to 11 Floréal An 13, the engine-turning completed after the sale on August 4, 1807, apparently according to the buyer?s wishes.
Interestingly, in addition to this watch Monsieur Regel bought four other almost identical repeaters from Breguet on that same day, for a total of almost 10,000 Francs. In return, Breguet gave him a ten percent discount.
A similar watch, No. 1196, also a quarter repeater with jump hours and a ruby cylinder, was sold by Antiquorum on October 10, 2006, for 106,200 CHF.