Important Collectors’ Wristwatches, P...

Hong Kong,the Ritz Carlton Hotel,harbour Room, 3rd Floor, Nov 25, 2006

LOT 59

"Pearl of the Orient" Attributed to William Anthony, London. Made for the Chinese market, the movement made in Switzerland, the case with london hallmarks for 1795 - 1796. Extremely fine and very rare, large, 18K gold, enamel and pearl-set center seconds pocket watch.

HKD 180,000 - 230,000

USD 23,000 - 30,000 / EUR 18,000 - 25,000

Sold: HKD 200,600

C. Two-body, "Directoire", the bezel decorated with split-pearls with an imperial translucent blue enamel and white line border, the pendant decorated to match, the back cover overlaid with translucent imperial blue enamel over an engine-turned sunburst ground, central split-pearl rosette, the border decorated to match the bezel. Spring-loaded hinged gold cuvette. D. White enamel with radial Roman numerals, outer minutes and seconds divisions, Arabic 15 second numerals. Gold "Breguet" hands with skeletonized tips. M. 48 mm., 21''', frosted gilt, standing barrel, foliate engraved cock for the wheel train, cylinder escapement, three-arm brass balance, flat blued steel balance spring, index regulator. Movement signed "London", case punched with master marks AM/PD. Diam. 61 mm.


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Grading System
Grade:
Case: 3-61

Good
Movement: 3*

Good

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

Very good

HANDS Original

Notes

It is very rare to find a watch from this period and of this quality, in such exceptional condition. For a discussion of watches made for the Chinese market, see pages 196 - 201. William Anthony Born about 1765, William Anthony worked in Red Lion Street, St John's Square, Clerkenwell, where he made high quality decorative watches for the Chinese market. Characteristic of his production are watches with oval dials and hands which are jointed so as to adjust automatically to the changing radius of the dial as they travel round. As a successful tradesman, Anthony played an active part in the founding of the Watch- and Clockmakers' Benevolent Association in 1815, but thereafter suffered a series of losses following unsuccessful litigation with Grimaldi & Johnson and an ill-fated attempt to set up a commercial exhibition in the Somerset Gallery, Strand, of Commonwealth and Stuart costume displayed on wax models. He died in straitened circumstances in 1844.