54,280 CHF
“Vice and Virtue” Miroir, London (Spiegel, Friedberg). Made circa 1740. Extremely fine and rare, large, repoussé silver, four-train coach watch with hour and quarter striking and repeating, date and alarm. Two-body, very finely pierced, chased and engraved with scrollwork and rocailles, bezel decorated to match, the back with a scene representing the temptations of vice over virtue, strike/silent lever in the dial plate, pendant with loose barrel and ring. Silver champlevé with radial Roman numerals, outer arcaded minute track and Arabic five minute numerals, date aperture above 12, inner alarm disc with Arabic numerals and half and quarter hour markers. Blued steel pierced hands. 83 mm., gilt, full-plate, rectangular pillars with applied silver foliate frets, fusee with chain, foliate engraved spring barrels for the striking, repeating and alarm trains, polished steel hammers, verge escapement, three-arm brass balance, blued steel flat balance-spring, very finely pierced, chased and engraved backplate furniture, polished steel endplate, calibrated silver regulator disc with radial Roman numerals. Movement signed. Diam. 116 mm. Notes This watch, an extremely fine example of its type, shows many of the characteristics of those watches made in Friedberg for other makers across Europe. Friedberg watchmakers specialized in the production of repeating and striking watches. From the beginning of the 18th century, they were making watches and coach watches with quarter, half q
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2006-04-02
