Important Collector's Watches, Pocket...

Geneva, Nov 11, 2007

LOT 84

Demi Chronomètre Ls. Bachelard & Fils, Geneve, No. 229. Made circa 1860. Fine and rare, 18K gold, hunting-cased, keyless, pocket lever chronometer with gold strips from the fork to the counterpoise arms invented by Fritz Piguet.

CHF 2,500 - 3,500

EUR 1,500 - 2,000 / USD 2,000 - 3,000

C. Four-body, ?bassine et filet?, engine-turned covers with polished borders, the front cover with engraved crest, reeded band. Hinged gold cuvette. D. White enamel, radial Roman numerals, outer minute divisions and Arabic five-minute numerals, subsidiary seconds. Blued steel ?spade? hands. M. 39 mm., 17 1/2???, frosted gilt, half-plate, 21 jewels, counterpoised straight-line lever escapement, the elongated counterpoise arms made of gold strips continuing to the fork, cut bimetallic compensation balance, blued steel Breguet balance spring, index regulator. Cuvette signed. Diam. 49 mm.


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Grading System
Grade: AA

Very good
Case: 3

Good
Movement: 3*

Good

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

Good

HANDS Original

Notes

This interesting watch is inscribed on the movement ?Echappement a ancre libre echange par lames d?or de Fritz Piguet?. The gold strips run from each side of the lever fork and continue to join the end of the counterpoise arms, they provide a sprung banking for the roller without limiting the natural arc of the balance or affecting the timekeeping or adjustment of the watch.

?Demi-Chronomètre? The name was used very rarely and usually indicates that the movement was sent to the Observatory for chronometric control, but that for commercial reasons, it did not remain long enough to complete the entire course of testing. To our knowledge, only two other Genevan firms employed the denomination ?Demi-Chronomètre?: Henry Capt and Vacheron Constantin.

Fritz Piguet

The company specialized in superbly adjusted watches and supplied ebauches to most of the major watchmakers during the middle of the 19th century, including Patek Philippe. They worked at Rue Bonnivard 10, Geneva. They were associated with the firm of Bachmann as Fritz Piguet & Bachmann and employed an excellent adjuster, the famous Favre-Rochat who competed with Batifolier. Both were expert adjusters specializing in complicated watches. Piguet & Bachmann rivaled Haas Neveux in Geneva Timing Competitions for the first place in complicated watches. Piguet & Bachman won the first prize in the 1888 Geneva Observatory Timing Contest, with 228.8 points. They also won a silver medal in the 1878 Paris Universal Exhibition and a gold medal in Melbourne in 1881. They were the top contenders among those specializing in complicated watches. See: ?Dictionnaire des Horlogers Genevois?, by Osvaldo Patrizzi, Antiquorum Editions, 1998.