120,750 CHF
Mugnier, Horloger de S. M. L'Empereur et Roi, No. 1009, circa 1812. Very fine and important 18 ct. gold, hall quarter repeating self winding watch with power reserve indicator and Robin escapement. Three body, "forme quatre baguettes" with reeded band and milled bezels, rock crystal front glass and glazed back (originally rock crystal). Rock crystal with Roman chapters painted upon white painted cartouches, outer minute ring, concentric central simple calendar ring, up-anddown sector above chapter VI. Blued steel Breguet hands. Notes Mugnier served bis apprenticeship Linder Abraham Louis Breguet, and alongside his master and Charles Oudin (another pupil of Breguet), was the only maker capable of=executing such a complex watch. In tact, to date, only this example and one other similar are known (See Antiquorum, L'Art de l'Horlogerie en France, 14 November 1993, pp. 288-289). It is perhaps no coincidence that the only other known example of such a watch was modified and rebuilt by Winnerl, a master chronometer maker, circa 1850. To attract the attention of such a talented craftsman some 30 years later, Mugnier's creations must have been held in great esteem. The most likely explanation for the changes made to the watch now offered for sale, appears to be the owner's desire to preserve and enhance its appearance. The painted numerals on the rock crystal dial are in a style consistent with a date around 1850, and although it is possible that they were rcpainted at th Read more…
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
1995-10-21
