Important Watches, Wristwatches and C...

Geneva, Hotel Des Bergues, Oct 18, 1997

LOT 123

Joseph Oudin, 11, rue Vivienne a Paris, No. 250, circa 1800. Very fine, silver, extra large montre a portrait with ivory miniature profil portrait of a lady painted by Adelaide Victorine Hall

CHF 28,000 - 32,000

Sold: CHF 36,800

C. Four body, by Joseph Bernard Montjoye (Master mark), engine turned " a grains d'orge" with reeded band and gold rims, the back with concealed compartment for the very fine miniature profile portrait of a lady over a black ground, painted on ivory by Hall. D. White enamel with Breguet numerals by Lucard (signed on the enamel backing). Blued steel Breguet hands. M. Gilt brass, special calibre drawn from that of Lepine, the fusee and barrel secured by a single bridge, verge escapement within a small cage, plain gold three-arm balance, flat balance spring with regulator. Signed on the movement. Diam. 69 mm.

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Image

Grading System
Case: 2

Very good

Movement: 1

As new

Dial: 26-51

Upgraded

Partially reprinted

Notes

Note: Very good example of an early watch made in the Breguet style. The enamel dial by Lucard, who also worked for Breguet, the hands, but also the case, forme collier with gold rims, which were not made by one of the case makers working for Breguet, are very si milar to that of the Master, who introduced this style for souscriptiott watches when he came hack from Switzerland in 1795, soon after the French Revolution. The morales el potrait, were also among the specialities, introduced by Breguet at the same period. Very few makers, contemporary to Breguet, incorporated the new type of Lepine calibre.However, even when those few makers used a verge escapement, they tended to come back to a more classic type of construction, that is, with the full plate calibre. The present watch is particularly interesting because while featuring a verge escapement, it is built according to the new, and avant-garde, principle of a Lepine calibre. Although it was made by a maker who never worked For Breguet, this watch demonstrates the strong influence of the master's style on major Parisian watchmakers of his time. Adelaide Victorine Hall (1772-1844) She was horn and she (lied in Paris. Daughter and pupil to Peter Adolph Hall, she left France for Stockholm soon after the French Revolution. Specialised in miniature port r aits painted on ivory, she was appointed member of the Stockholm Academy in 1792. Her selfportrait is kept in the Museum of Stockholm.