15,600 CHF
Tiges Obus Cartier, Paris, No. 4839/ 17374, "Savonnette rectangulaire, tiges obus". Made circa 1928. Very fine and extremely rare, rectangular, 18K yellow gold and enamel wristwatch with concealed dial and winding crown and an 18K yellow gold Cartier deployant clasp. Rectangular, polished, hinged and sprung cover over the dial decorated with a blue champleve enamel filet, bezel with four screws, ogival lugs. Matte silver with painted radial Roman numerals, inner minute track. Blued steel Breguet hands. Notes An archival photograph showing this model may be seen in: Le Temps de Cartier, Barracca, Negretti, Nencini, 1989, p. 163. This watch is one of only two or three known examples, made circa 1928. Two others were offered for sale by Antiquorum: the first, was sold in I-long Kong, May 30, 1989, lot 348, for HK$ 222,000 (SFr. 49'060); the second, was sold in St. Moritz, on February 25, 1990, lot 155, for SFr. 52'800. Wristwatches with concealed dial appeared shortly after 1920, by which time wristwatches were selling better than pocket watches. For sport and everyday wristwatches, eminent designers and makers were keen to find an equivalent to the popular hunting cased pocket watches which can easily be personalised with a monogram or enamelled decoration on the cover. Cartier and Verger, in France, used mechanisms such as the guillotine with sliding shutters, already invented for dress watches, and Leon Hatot, with a watch featuring a spring loaded hinged cover, pre Read more…
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2009-11-14
