9,200 CHF
Lépine a Paris, Invenit et Fecit, No. 786. Made circa 1780. Fine and very rare, thin, 18K gold and rose diamond-set double-dialled pocket watch with calendar. Two-body, “Directoire”, rope-twist bezel, the back with glazed aperture with engine-turned and rope-twist border, diamond set thumb-piece. White enamel with radial Arabic numerals, outer minute track and Arabic five minute numerals. Gold “Louis” hands. Calendar dial: white enamel, calibrated for days of the week and their corresponding planetary symbols and the date from 1-31. Blued steel hand for the days and gold hand for the date. Gilt brass full plate, cylindrical pillars, spring barrel, cylinder escapement, three-arm brass balance, blued steel flat balance spring, index regulator. Movement signed. Diam. 42 mm. Notes This double dialed watch, which appears to be unique in the work of Lepine, is not recorded in A. Chapiro’s “Jean-Antoine Lepine, Horloger, (1720-1814)”. Lépine was the first maker in France to use Arabic numerals for the hours in place of the traditional Roman chapters. This watch is a good example of this new style of dial. The calendar work is driven by a pinion mounted on the extended centre wheel pivot, this in turn driving two wheels with vertical pins to move on the calendar hands. The present lot was previously sold by Antiquorum New York, on June 20, 1998, lot 459. Jean-Antoine Lépine (1720-1814). He was born on 18 November 1720 at Challex, a small village a few kilometers north of Geneva
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2005-10-16
