Swiss repeater with Westminster chimes carillon Circa 1910
- Kenmerk
- BA0449
- Diameter
- 53 mm
- Estimate
- € 25.000 - 60.000
- Price sold
- € 25.900
Gold hunting cased minute repeating lever by Constant Piguet
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A very fine and very rare Swiss 18 carat gold hunting cased minute repeating keyless lever pocket watch with Westminster chimes carillon, circa 1910. Frosted gilt movement, 32 jewels, counterpoised straight-line lever escapement, cut bimetallic compensation balance, blued steel Breguet balance spring, index regulator, repeating on four gongs with four hammers activated by a slide on the band. Gold hinged cuvette. White enamel dial with Roman numerals, outer minute track, subsidiary secondsand original blued steel spade hands. Plain case. Movement engraved with Constant Piguet’s patent number.
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Diameter: 53 mm
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Signed: Constant Piguet Le Sentier
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Carillon minute repeating watches are very rare, only a few are known with four hammers or Westminster chimes. On March 20, 1896, Constant Piguet patented this system of minute repeat with carillon, under the No. 11948. The makers that specialized in this type of watch were Constant Piguet, Eduard JeanRichard and Victorin Piguet. The known tunes played by four hammer carillons are: Westminster chimes, the Swiss National anthem and God Save the King.
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Constant Piguet is listed in 1896 as being a gong maker in Le Sentier in the canton of Vaud, making carillon repeating watches with four hammers. On March 20, 1896, Constant Piguet patented this system of minute repeat with carillon, under the Swiss patent No. 11948. These watches are those for which he is best known today and bear his patent number on the movement.
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Westminster Chimes are correctly called Cambridge Chimes. They first appeared in 1793 at St. Mary’s Church, Cambridge. They were written by Rev Dr. Joseph Jowett and Dr. John Randall working with undergraduate William Crotch (later first Principal of the Royal Academy of Music) and were adopted by Lord Grimthorpe, designer of the great clock ‘Big Ben’ for the Palace of Westminster. The chimes are based on four notes from Handel’s Messiah and are known locally in Cambridge as ‘Jowett’s Jig’.
Signed: Constant Piguet Le Sentier

















