5,310 CHF
“Special Escapement, Quarter Repeater” Pere Bouhelier, No. 773. Made circa 1830. Fine and rare, silver, quarter-repeating pocket watch with special escapement. Three-body, “bassine et filets”, polished, reeded band. Hinged gilt metal cuvette. White enamel with upright Arabic numerals, outer minute track. Gold “Spade” hands. 45 mm., frosted gilt, 10 jewels, standing barrel, gold wheel train, special polished steel lateral lever escapement with elongated lever arm, the fork engaging a locking pin on the balance pivot, plain three-arm balance, blued steel flat balance spring, index regulator, repeating with two massive polished steel hammers on two gongs activated by a pulland- twist button in the pendant, polished steel repeating work under the dial. Cuvette signed. Diam. 54 mm. Notes Pere Bouhelier A native of Saint Julien, a small village near Charquemont, in Franche Comte, where his surname was very common. Although mostly farmers, the population made cylinder escapements in winter-time, for both the French and the Swiss makers. It is interesting to note that the few watches known from this maker are all constructed with this very unusual calibre and all set with the same type of straight line lever escapement. Very few watches made by Pere Bouhelier are known to exist. Two were discussed in Horlogerie Ancienne, bulletin of the A.N.C.1--I. A., another was sold by Antiquorum, Geneva, 20 October 1991, lot No. 54, and another, Antiquorum, Geneve, October 12, 1996. These w
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2006-05-14
