25,960 CHF
“Early Keyless Winding, Quarter-Repeater” Czapek & Cie, a Geneve, No. 3583. Made circa 1850. Very fine and extremely rare, quarter-repeating, 18K gold hunting-cased pocket watch with Adrien Philippe’s first patented stem-wind and hand-setting mechanism of 1845 without coasting. Four-body, “bassine et filet”, engine-turned and polished, flattopped winding crown. Hinged gold cuvette. White enamel with radial Roman numerals, outer minute track, subsidiary seconds at 9 o’clock. Blued steel “Breguet” hands. 41 mm., 18’’’, frosted gilt, 19 jewels, wolf’s tooth winding, counterpoised straight-line lever escapement, cut bimetallic compensation balance, blued steel Breguet balance spring, index regulator, repeating on gongs activated by a slide on the band. Cuvette and movement signed. Diam. 47 mm. Notes This watch was recently overhauled by Patek Philippe. The present watch uses Adrien Philippe’s first winding and hand-setting mechanism, French patent No. 1317 of April 22, 1845. The winding pinion is fixed to the winding shaft, for winding the crown must be turned clockwise and cannot be turned back with that typical ratchet noise. To disengage the winding in order to set the hands, the winding crown can be pulled out. Very few watches survive with this early winding mechanism without coasting and the present watch is particularly rare in also having quarter-repeating. Czapek & Cie. Franciszek Czapek was a Polish émigré who arrived in Switzerland in 1832 after the fall of the P
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2006-11-12
