French 18 carat pink gold quarter repeating pocket watch Circa 1789

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French extremely rare quarter repeating pocket watch Circa 1789

Kenmerk: AD5443
Diameter: 56 mm

Estimate: € 10.000 - 20.000
Price sold: -

Pink gold repeating cylinder watch
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An extremely rare French 18 carat pink gold open faced quarter repeating gentleman’s pocket watch made by Lépine in Paris, circa 1789. The polished case features a signed and numbered cuvette engraved with technical details and a pusher for the repetition through the pendant. The white enamel dial, marked Lépine Invenit et Fecit, has Arabic hours, outer dot minute divisions, outermost Arabic five minute numerals and gold Fleur-de-Lys hands. The frosted gilt Lépine caliber movement is fitted with a cylinder escapement, two hammers, two gongs, a three arm ring balance, wolf’s tooth barrel, and a train for the going and striking mechanism.
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Diameter: 56 mm
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Weight: 118 g
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Signed: Lépine Hger du Roy à Paris
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A Lépine caliber is a revolutionary watch movement design that replaced traditional full top plates with individual bridges and cocks, allowing watches to be built much thinner and to easily fit into tailored waistcoat pockets.
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It was invented around 1764–1765 by French master watchmaker Jean Antoine Lépine, royal watchmaker to Louis XV, Louis XVI and Napoleon Bonaparte. This layout formed the technical foundation of nearly all modern mechanical watches.
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Key characteristics of a Lépine caliber are:

The bridge construction: The standard solid top plate and pillars were removed. Instead, separate small bridges were used to hold the individual gears and wheels in place.
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A thinner profile: By eliminating the full main plate and the traditional chain and fusee system, internal space was freed up, resulting in a much thinner and lighter movement.
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The open face pocket watch layout: In pocket watches, the Lépine style refers to a flat, lidless and open faced design in which the winding crown is positioned at 12 o’clock, vertically aligned with a small seconds subdial at 6.

Signed: Lépine à Paris, Horologer de Roy