46,800 CHF
Westminster Chime Carillon Minute-Repeating Constant Piguet, Le Sentier, No. 3133, Swiss patent No. 11948. Made circa 1910. Very fine and very rare, 18K rose gold, hunting-cased, keyless, minute-repeating pocket watch with carillon Westminster chime with four hammers on four gongs. Four-body, "bassine", polished, both covers with engraved monograms. Hinged gold cuvette with engraved dedication. White enamel, dauphine numerals, outer minute track with Arabic five-minute numerals, subsidiary seconds. Gold spade hands. 45 mm., 20’’’, rhodium plated, 32 jewels, straight-line lever escapement, counterpoised cut bimetallic compensation balance with blued steel Breguet balance spring, swan-neck micrometer regulator, repeating on four gongs with four hammers activated by a slide on the band. Movement punched with Constant Piguet’s patent number. Diam. 54 mm. Notes Carillon minute repeating watches are very rare; only a few are known with Westminster chimes. On March 20, 1896, Constant Piguet patented this system of minute-repeat with carillon, under the No. 11948. The makers that specialized in this type of watch were Constant Piguet, Eduard JeanRichard, and Victorin Piguet. The known tunes played by four hammer carillons are: Westminster chimes, the Swiss National anthem, and God Save the King. Similar watches were sold by Antiquorum, Geneva, October 19, 2002, lot 8; Hong Kong, July 10, 2005, lot 83; Geneva, May 14, 2006, lot 78; October 15, 2006, lot 404 and October 4, 2009
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2009-11-14
