Sylvain Mairet

Sylvain Mairet, No. 63, made for J.F. Cooper, London, circa 1835. Very fine and elegant extra-slim 18K gold watch with ruby cylinder escapement, Réaumur thermometer and regulator dial. Three-body, coin-edge, engine-turned back, gold hinged cuvette with winding and setting apertures, elegant bow smoothly extending from the pendant. Notes The watch possesses several unusual features: the movement fits into the case from the back, eliminating the need for a bezel, the stem flows very elegantly from the pendant in a way favored 150 years later by George Daniels, the engine-turning of the dial is exquisite in design, the movement is very well made, and the ruby cylinder is one of the thinnest we have ever seen. Sylvain Mairet Was raised by his uncle F.I. Favre-Bulle, a great watchmaker of his period. He became one of the best watchmakers in Le Locle. Between 1831 and 1834 he lived in London, making watches, often to his own design, and mostly for B.L. Vulliamy. He became friendly with J. F. Cole. He invented stem winding for watches with two-train movements (see lot No. 218). In 1862 he was official Swiss agent to the London Universal Exhibition and wrote the official report. At the 1867 Paris Exhibition he received gold medal "as a testimony to his ability and the beneficial influence which he had exerted on the progress of watchmaking in the Canton of Neuchatel".