Important Collectors’ Wristwatches, P...

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

LOT 68

?Westminster Chime Carillon Minute Repeater, Black Dial? Constant Piguet, Le Sentier, No. 3136, Swiss patent No. 11948, examined by Goldsmiths? and Silversmiths? Company. Made circa 1905. Very fine and very rare, 18K gold, hunting-cased, keyless, minute-repeating pocket watch with carillon Westminster chime and black dial.

HKD 200,000 - 250,000

USD 26,000 - 32,000 / EUR 20,000 - 26,000

Sold: HKD 218,300

C. Four-body, "bassine" polished, the front cover with engraved monogram. Hinged gold cuvette engraved with a dedication. D. Black enamel with radial gold Roman numerals, outer gold minute track, subsidiary seconds. Gold "Louis XV" 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 signed, movement and case numbered 3136, movement engraved with Constant Piguet?s patent number. Diam. 54 mm.


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Grading System
Grade:
Case: 3

Good
Movement: 3*

Good

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense
Dial: 2-66-01

Very good

HANDS Original

Notes

Carillon minute-repeating watches are very rare; only a few are known with four hammers or Westminster chimes. On March 20, 1896, Constant Piguet patented this system of minute-repeat with carillon, under the No. 11948. 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. A watch playing God Save the King was sold by Antiquorum on Nov. 11, 2006, lot 53. Similar watches were sold by Antiquorum, Geneva, Oct. 19, 2002, lot 8; Hong Kong, July 10, 2005, lot 83; Geneva, May 14, 2006, lot 783; and Oct. 15, 2006, lot 404. The inscription on the cuvette of this watch reads: Presented to Dr. Thomas Richard Allinson by ?The Weekly Times and Echo? on behalf of 2400 Admirers & Friends, 30 Sept. 1911, Died Nov. 29. 1918. It is possible that this watch was later sold by Dr. Allinson, after which time the dial was changed for the Russian market. Thomas Richard Allinson author of domestic books including: Wholesome Cookery, 1890; Consumption, 1892; A Book For Married Women, 1894; Stomach Diseases, 1902, and Dr Allinson's Cookery Book, 1915. It is probable that he wrote a newspaper column for the ?Weekly Times & Echo? and that the watch was presented to him upon his retirement.