Important Collectors’ Wristwatches, P...

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

LOT 66

"Minute Repeater, Split-Seconds Chronograph" Eduard Koehn, Geneve, No. 78444. Made for Tiffany, circa 1905. Very fine, 18K gold, keyless minute-repeating dress watch with split-seconds chronograph and instantaneous 60- minute register.

HKD 85,000 - 120,000

USD 11,000 - 15,000 / EUR 9,000 - 12,000

Sold: HKD 94,400

C. Four-body, "bassine", polished, bolt to lock the chronograph at 11 o'clock. Hinged gold cuvette. D. White enamel, Breguet numerals, outer minute track, outermost chronograph divisions divided into fifths, red painted five minute/seconds numerals, 60-minute register at 12, subsidiary seconds at 6. Blued steel "spade" hands. M. 37 mm (17'''), 38 jewels, straight-line lever escapement, cut-bimetallic compensation balance with blued steel Breguet balance spring, "swanneck" micrometer regulator, Koehn patented chronograph mechanism, repeating on gongs activated by a slide on the band. Dial, case and movement signed by the retailer. Diam. 45 mm.


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Grading System
Grade: AAA

Excellent
Case: 3

Good
Movement: 3*

Good

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

Good

HANDS Original

Notes

On November 15, 1902, Koehn was granted a patent for an instantaneous minute register in chronograph mechanisms. He implemented it in this watch. Interestingly, the serial numbers of the series of watches he destined for Tiffany coincides with the series of numbers destined by Patek Philippe for Tiffany, which has caused some confusion. This is a rare case, in which the maker may be identified without a doubt. Edouard Koehn Was the son of a watchmaker to the Court of Saxe-Weimar. After his schooling, he worked for Patek Philippe. He progressed rapidly in the firm, becoming a partner at the age of thirty-five. In 1891, Koehn retired from Patek Philippe and bought the H.R. Ekegrèn company, retaining Mr. Ekegrèn as chief of manufacture.To Ekegrèn's calibers Koehn added new, thinner models and many complicated pieces.