Perpétuelle Indépendante” B

“Perpétuelle Indépendante” B. Haas Jne & Cie, Genève - Paris, No. 014135, made for the Indian Market, circa 1890. Very fine 18K gold hunting-cased, double-dial, moon phases astronomical watch with calendar called by the maker “Perpétuelle Indépendante” Three-body, solid, “bassine et filets”, the spring -oaded covers chased with foliate decoration. White enamel on the front with radial Roman numerals, outer minute track and five-minute Arabic markers, sunk subsidiary seconds, large inner moon phase aperture. Blued steel “spade” hands. White enamel on the rear face with black Arabic chapter on the border for the date, small black subsidiary inner chapter rings for days of the week and another for months. 44.7 mm. (20’’’), nickel, “fausses côtes” decoration, gold wheel train,18 jewels, counterpoised straight line lever escapement, cut bimetallic balance, Breguet balance spring. Signed on the calendar dial, case stamped with maker’s mark. Diam. 53.5 mm. Notes An interesting watch. The celebrated magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin is known to have sold this model by Haas under his own name. The watch has a “mystery” opening feature: only one cover can be opened at a time, due to a special gravitational device that allows only the top cover to be opened. Thus,when the watch is turned, the cover that had remained closed no matter how much the pushbutton was depressed, suddenly “mysteriously” opens.