Archive of Sold Items

Rare Early Automaton Repeater

A rare early 18th Century English quarter repeating verge with automated champleve dial.  Deep full plate fire gilt movement with turned baluster pillars.  Fusee and chain with worm and wheel barrel setup between the plates.  Pierced and engraved winged cock with mask, pierced and engraved foot.  Plain steel balance, silver regulator disc.  Push pendant quarter repeating on a bell in the case.  Two polished steel hammers, engraved edge to the repeating resting barrel and deep edge to the dial plate.  Silver champleve dial with Roman and Arabic numerals, blue steel beetle and poker hands.  In the centre a pierced gilt representation of a bell over a blue steel ground.  Either side of the bell are the engraved heads of dragons which appear to strike it when the watch is repeated.  Silver inner case, pierced and engraved foliate scenes containing dragons and birds.  Silver repousse outer case chased and engraved with a scene of Pomona, the Roman goddess of  fruitful abundance.  Pierced and engraved sections at the quarters separated by cartouches containing a dragon,  fish bird of prey and a squirrel.

Jean François Poncet  was a famous German watchmaker from Dresden. He was watchmaker to the duke of Saxony as well as to the king of Poland.We have not seen automaton work on the dial of a watch of this period.  It pre-dates the examples found on continental quarter repeaters by almost a hundred years.
Date :  Circa   1710
£13,500.00

Gold Half Hunter Minute Repeating Chronograph

A fine late 19th Century English minute repeating freesprung lever with minute recording flyback chronograph in a heavy gold half hunter case.  Gilt half plate keyless movement, going barrel under a raised section in the plate.  Plain cock with diamond endstone, freesprung  compensation balance with blue steel overcoil hairspring.  Screwed in jewelling, escape and lever pivots with endstones.  English table roller lever escapement.  Slide minute repeating on two polished steel gongs. Flyback minute recording chronograph work situated under the dial.  Signed and numbered white enamel dial with flyback centre seconds, subsidiaries for minute recording and continuous seconds.  Roman numerals, blue steel seconds hands, gold half hunter hands.  Substantial plain 18 carat half hunter case with blue enamel chapter ring, two flysprings to the front cover.   Recessed gold slide for the minute repeat in the band at twelve.  Round gold button for the chronograph at six, disabled when the front cover is closed.  Plain gold cuvette, maker's mark “PW” in an oval and number corresponding to that on the movement.  Tan presentation box lined with purple velvet signed for the makers of the watch,  “Goldsmiths & Silversmiths Company – 112 Regent Street”.

An impressive and substantial minute repeating chronograph in excellent overall condition.  “Part Swiss” on the plate probably refers to the minute repeating work which was often imported at this period.
Date :  Hallmarked London   1894
£12,500.00