11,800 CHF
“English Montre à Tact” E(dward) J(ohn) Dent, Watchmaker to the Queen, London, No. 17280. London hallmarks for 1851. Very fine and important, thin, 18K gold pocket watch with very early Adolph Nicole patent keyless winding mechanism and à tact option. Four-body, “forme collier”, by Adolph Nicole (master mark), engine-turned and polished, the band with hour and quarter-hour à tact markers, the bezel with à tact ring with pointer, small domed winding crown. Gold with blue painted radial Roman numerals, outer minute divisions, subsidiary seconds, matte center. Blued steel “spade” hands. 41 mm., 18’’’, frosted gilt three-quarter plate, Adolph Nicole’s patent winding system with coasting, lateral lever escapement, cut bimetallic compensation balance, flat blued steel balance spring, index regulator. Movement signed. Diam. 48 mm. Notes The present watch is extremely unusual for two reasons: it is very rare to find an English made watch with a tact option, especially on an openfaced watch. The watch is very thin for its type and the design obviously derived from Breguet is very pleasing. The date of the hallmark of this watch – 1851 is possibly significant as this was the year of the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park. With the very unusual design and the use of Adolph Nicole’s winding system it is perhaps not too fanciful to suggest that the watch was made for exhibition. The design for stem-winding used in this watch is English patent No. 10348 of October 14, 1844.This pre-dates b
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2006-10-15
