86,250 CHF
A Monsieur Spies Watch No. 4238, sold 16 March 1826 ,for the sum of 5200 Francs. Gold and silver cased watch with half quarterrepeating, calendar and secret portrait miniature compartment, constructed on the principals of the "garde-temps". Notes History: According to the repair books, this watch was returned'for overhaul on 19 June 1835 at the request of Monsieur Spies, who was attached to the Russian Embassy. On 12 May 1844 it was again overhauled on behalf of a Monsieur Huard, 7 rue du Monthabord, Paris. Provenance: Formerly in the Sir David Salomons Collection, No. 30. Sold at Christie's, London, as lot 39, catalogue part II, on 1 June 1965. Exhibition: This watch was exhibited in Paris at the Palais Galliéra, in October 1923, on the centenary of the death of Abraham- Louis Breguet, Cat. No. 192. Literature: Illustrated and described in G. Daniels, The Art of Breguet, p. 271, fig. 331 a-c. Note: Extra-flat, with eccentric dial, off-set seconds at "III", and an aperture for the calendar, this watch is an elegant example of Breguet's work. The secret portrait compartment is one of Breguet's rare concessions to the fantaisies of his clientele, but it is here so constructed that the overall purity of design of the watch is wholly maintained. This is in itself an achievement, as the watch is of particularly slim form bearing in mind that it has both repeating and a calendar.
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
1991-04-14
