A1013

Gold Minute Repeater with Russian Coat of Arms

£23,000.00

Signed   Paul Buhre
Circa   1890
Diameter   54 mm         

1 in stock

Description

A late 19th Century Swiss minute repeater in a fine engine turned full hunter case bearing the coat of arms of the Russian Empire.  Keyless nickelled bar movement with going barrel.  Plain cock with polished steel regulator.  Compensation balance with blue steel overcoil hairspring. Club foot lever escapement, escape and lever pivots with endstones. Slide minute repeating on two polished steel gongs.  White enamel dial with subsidiary seconds, Roman numerals, gilt hands. Substantial engine turned 18 carat full hunter case, gold slide in the band to actuate the repeater.  The front cover depicts the coat of arms of the Russian Empire in black enamel, the ribbon joining the three crowns in blue enamel.  Gold cuvette signed in Cyrillic “Pavel Buhre his Majesty’s Court Supplier”.  Inside the front cover a dedication which translated as “Most Merciful it was granted to the artist of the French Troupe of the St. Petersburg Emperor’s Theatre – L Gistrily 1890”

An interesting and wearable watch in excellent overall condition.  Pavel Karlovich Bhure, the son of watchmaker Karl Bhure founded the company in St. Petersburg.   In 1874, Pavel Bhure purchased a watch factory in Swiss Le Locle.  The Bhure factory produced presentation watches by the order of the Imperial Court.  The Emperor gave these to foreign diplomats, prominent figures of culture and officials for distinguished public service.  During his reign Alexander III (1881-1894) awarded almost three and a half thousand gift watches.  The company was later awarded the title of "The Official Supplier of the Imperial Court".  The dedication inside the front cover probably relates to the Mikhaylovsky Theatre in St. Petersburg.  It is one of the oldest theaters in Russia established in 1833 on the orders of Tsar Nicholas I.  The establishment of the theater gave the French troupe a place of their own for the next 85 years. After the Revolution the French troupe was forced to leave Russia.

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