French extremely rare gold repeating cylinder watch Circa 1789

Gold quarter repeater à toc
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An extremely rare French 18 carat gold open faced quarter repeating à toc key wind pocket watch with secret opening mechanism made by Jean-Antoine Lépine in Paris, circa 1789-1790. Polished case with a fixed bezel on the front, concealed hinges, a pusher for repetition via the pendant and a special opening mechanism through turning the pendant. White enamel dial with black Arabic hours, an outer minute track with red Arabic five minute numerals and gold skeletonized Fleur de Lys hands, it is signed Lepine Invenit et Fecit. Gilded brass movement with a cylinder escapement, wolf’s tooth trains including pinions, a going barrel, monometallic balance and blued steel flat hairspring, quarter repeating à toc by one large hammer. Dial and cuvette signed.
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Diameter: 56 mm
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Signed: Lépine Hger du Roy à Paris
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Lépine caliber
This is one of the first watches with a design based on the principles and horological inventions of Jean-Antoine Lépine. It has the typical early Lépine layout called a Lépine caliber. It was constructed around 1770 and employs wolf tooth wheels. Lépine was the first to use these wheels to strengthen the gearing.
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The design was also fitted with his repeating system, invented in 1763 and published in 1766 in the “Mémoires of the Académie des Sciences”. It was a revolutionary mechanism where the hour and quarter hour racks were placed directly on the winding arbour, eliminating the fragile winding chain.
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The present timepiece is also important because it advances our knowledge of Lépine’s manufacturing practices. The ebauche maker responsible for it was probably Descombaz, the most important maker of ebauches for Breguet and Lépine.
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In April 1789, George Washington bought a Lépine watch without repeater, which is now in the Historical Society of Pennsylvania collection. This watch is in its design almost identical to Abraham Louis Breguet’s No. 149, a renowned private museum purchased the watch for the sum of € 84,000.