123,750 CHF
"Sultan Abdul Hamid II to Prince de Radolin" Breguet, No. 1325, sold to Mir et Coltereau on August 24, 1892. Presented by Sultan Abdul Hamid II of Turkey to Prince de Radolin, German Ambassador to Constantinople in 1894. Extremely fine and very rare, minute repeating, 18K gold and cloisonné enamel astronomic pocket watch with moon phases. Accompanied by a Breguet certificate. Three-body, the bezel and back finely decorated with foiled red, green, blue, gold, pink and white cloisonné enamel in a geometric pattern with stylized flowers and leaves, the bezel decorated to match, the interior of the back with engraved dedication, the band, stem and bow decorated with opaque cream enamel and red and green leaves. White enamel with gold painted shadowed Dauphine numerals, outer gold painted minute track, subsidiary seconds, moon phase aperture below 12. Gold "Louis XV" hands. Notes Abdul-Hamid II, 1842-1918, Ottoman sultan (1876-1909). His uncle, Abdul-Aziz, was deposed from the throne of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) in 1876 by the Young Turks, a liberal reformist group. Abd al-Hamid's brother, Murad V, succeeded as sultan, but was shortly declared insane, and Abd al-Hamid ascended the throne. For his part in the Armenian massacres of 1894-96, he was called the Great Assassin and the Red Sultan. Ruling as absolute monarch, Abd al-Hamid lived in virtual seclusion. In 1908 the Young Turks, who had penetrated the armed services, revolted and forced the sultan to adhere to the
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2006-10-15
