Important Collectors’ Wristwatches, P...

Geneva, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Du Rhône, Oct 15, 2006

LOT 346

?Calendarium Perpetuum? John Bushman, London, No. 1252. Made for the German market, circa 1710. Extremely fine and important, silver, pair-cased pocket watch, the outer case with manual perpetual calendar, indications for the zodiac and saints? days, the seasons, religious festivals, sunrise and sunset and the length of daylight hours.

CHF 50,000 - 70,000

EUR 32,000 - 45,000 / USD 40,000 - 57,000

Sold: CHF 89,680

C. Outer: two-body, master mark ?WS? beneath a crown, square hinge, the bezel engraved with the months and their respective number of days, the back engraved with bands and segments containing the signs of the zodiac and their respective symbols, named saints? days and their respective dates, start and finish of religious festivals and the seasons, calculation tables, the center with two revolving discs for calculating the length of the daylight hours, sunrise and sunset and future dates. Inner: two-body, ?bassine?, master mark ?IW?, polished, deep back, shuttered winding hole, split bezel, loose ring pendant. D. ?Champlevé? silver, radial Roman numerals, outer minute track, Arabic five minute numerals, the center with signature cartouches. Blued steel ?beetle and poker? hands. M. 41 mm., gilt full plate, divided Egyptian pillars with pierced foliate galleries, fusee with chain, verge escapement, three-arm steel balance, flat balance spring, finely pierced and engraved winged balance cock, silver regulation disc. Dial and movement signed. Diam. 57 mm.


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Grading System
Grade:
Case: 3

Good
Movement: 2

Very good
Dial: 3-01

Good

HANDS Original

Notes

The outer case, which is original to this watch is truly exceptional in its complication and execution. Very few watches from the late 17th and very early 18th centuries with this level of sophisticated mathematical information have survived and the present watch is in fine condition and complete. The engraving of the case would have been an achievement in itself and would have required detailed preparatory drawings to be given to the engraver.The functions of the ?Calendarium Perpetuum? include: Months and their number of days. Pictorial zodiac symbols and their written symbols. Saints? days and their dates. Commencement and end dates of religious festivals. Commencement and end dates of the four seasons. Length of Daylight hours. Times of sunrise and sunset. John Bushman (also Buschman or Buschmann) A fine maker, he was born in 1661, a German watchmaker. Married in December 1690, then aged 29, a bachelor of the parish of St. Margaret, Westminster, to Mary Wyatt, 23, ?spinster?, at Christ Church, London (as Johannes Busshman). Made a brother of the Clockmakers Company in 1692 and an Assistant in 1720. He is believed to have worked until 1725.