Joseph Oudin

Joseph Oudin, 11, rue Vivienne a Paris, No. 250, circa 1800. Very fine, silver, extra large montre a portrait with ivory miniature profil portrait of a lady painted by Adelaide Victorine Hall White enamel with Breguet numerals by Lucard (signed on the enamel backing). Blued steel Breguet hands. Gilt brass, special calibre drawn from that of Lepine, the fusee and barrel secured by a single bridge, verge escapement within a small cage, plain gold three-arm balance, flat balance spring with regulator. Signed on the movement. Diam. 69 mm. Notes Note: Very good example of an early watch made in the Breguet style. The enamel dial by Lucard, who also worked for Breguet, the hands, but also the case, forme collier with gold rims, which were not made by one of the case makers working for Breguet, are very si milar to that of the Master, who introduced this style for souscriptiott watches when he came hack from Switzerland in 1795, soon after the French Revolution. The morales el potrait, were also among the specialities, introduced by Breguet at the same period. Very few makers, contemporary to Breguet, incorporated the new type of Lepine calibre.However, even when those few makers used a verge escapement, they tended to come back to a more classic type of construction, that is, with the full plate calibre. The present watch is particularly interesting because while featuring a verge escapement, it is built according to the new, and avant-garde, principle of a Lepine calibre. Al Read more…