Important Collectors’ Wristwatches, P...

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

LOT 404

?Westminster Chime Minute-Repeating? Longines, movement by Constant Piguet, Le Sentier, No. 3652, Swiss patent No. 11948. Made circa 1910. Very fine and very rare, 18K gold, hunting-cased, keyless, minute-repeating pocket watch with carillon Westminster chime.

CHF 35,000 - 45,000

EUR 22,000 - 28,000 / USD 28,000 - 37,000

Sold: CHF 59,000

C. Four-body, "bassine" polished, the front cover with engraved initials. Hinged gold cuvette. D. White enamel, large Breguet numerals, outer minute track, subsidiary seconds. Gold "spade" hands. M. 45 mm. (20???), gilt brass, 32 jewels, straight-line lever escapement, cut bimetallic compensation balance with blued steel Breguet balance spring, index regulator, repeating on four gongs with four hammers activated by a slide on the band. Dial moviment and case numered 3652. Diam. 54 mm.


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Grading System
Grade:
Case: 3

Good
Movement: 3*

Good

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense
Dial: 2-01

Very good

HANDS Original

Notes

Carillon minute repeating watches are very rare; only a few are known with Westminster chimes. On March 20, 1896, Constant Piguet patented this system of minute-repeat with carillon, under the No. 11948 . Carillon minute repeating watches are very rare; only a few are known either with four hammer chimes or Westminster chimes. The makers that specialized in this type of watch were Constant Piguet, Eduard JeanRichard, and Victorin Piguet. The known tunes played by four hammer carillons are: Westminster chimes, the Swiss National anthem, and God Save the King. Similar watches were sold by Antiquorum, Exceptional Horological Works of Art, Geneva, October 19, 2002, lot 8, and Important Collectors? Wristwatches, Pocket Watches and Clocks, Hong Kong, July 10, 2005, lot 83 and Important Collectors? Wristwatches, Pocket Watches and Clocks, Geneva, May 14, 2006, lot 783. Longines Longines was founded in 1832 by Ernest Francillon at Saint-Imier, Switzerland. The Longines name was once displayed above the analog clocks topping many scoreboards in stadiums and baseball parks, in America, such as the clock at Yankee Stadium before its remodeling in the early 1970s, and the one at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh in later years. Longines is also famous for its 'Aviators' watches. It is said that Albert Einstein used a Longines pocket watch, and the company?s watches have been worn by many celebrities, including Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, Billy Zane and Harry Connick Jr. The company's motto is "Elegance is an attitude."