37,760 CHF
“Chez Leroy, à Constantinople” Breguet, No. 1287. Sold to Leroy, Constantinople, on May 22, 1817, for 1,300 Francs. Very fine and rare, 18K gold quarter-repeating pocket watch with ruby cylinder escapement. Accompanied by a Breguet red morocco fitted box and a certificate dated 1966. Four-body, “à la Turque”, engine-turned, reeded bezel and border. Gilt metal cuvette. White enamel, Islamic numerals, outer minute track, secret signature below 12. Blued steel “Breguet” hands. 18’’’, frosted gilt, standing barrel, overhanging ruby cylinder escapement, three-arm brass balance, pare-chute on the upper pivot, blued steel flat balance spring, index regulator with bimetallic temperature compensation curb, all-or-nothing repeating with two hammers on two gongs activated by a pull-and-twist piston in the pendant. Dial and cuvette signed. Diam. 53 mm. Notes In 1811, in search of new markets to compensate for the recession, Breguet remembered the advice given him by Ali Effendi in 1802: "Send one of your most skillful watchmakers to Constantinople ... and your name will become as famous as that of the English." Later that year Leroy settled in Constantinople as Breguet’s agent. The firm sent him, on an average, 6 to 8 pieces per year until 1820, after which date sales slowed somewhat. But along with these expensive pieces made in Paris, there were an even greater number of less expensive pieces, made in Geneva for Breguet and sold under the signature Breguet or "Leroy, élève de
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2006-10-15
