Swiss centre seconds duplex for the Chinese market Circa 1840
- Kenmerk
- SA2720
- Diameter
- 58 mm
- Estimate
- € 30.000 - 60.000
- Price sold
- € 44.300
Gold enamel and pearl-set open faced watch
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A fine and rare Swiss 18 carat yellow gold enamel and pearl-set open faced duplex pocket watch made for the Chinese market, circa 1840.
Silver gilt Chinese duplex escapement, finely foliate chased and engraved movement, polished steel balance, blued inertia-block and regulation screws, ruby end stones.
White enamel dial with Roman numerals and outer minute track, Arabic 60, 45, 30 and 15, centre seconds, blued spooned hands. The case back with polychrome enamel painted flowers, the band with cloisonné enamel, the pendant also with cloisonné enamel and pearl-set, both bezels set with pearls. Movement signed.
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Diameter: 58 mm
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A fine and rare Swiss 18 carat yellow gold enamel and pearl-set open faced duplex pocket watch made for the Chinese market, circa 1840.
Silver gilt Chinese duplex escapement, finely foliate chased and engraved movement, polished steel balance, blued inertia-block and regulation screws, ruby end stones.
White enamel dial with Roman numerals and outer minute track, Arabic 60, 45, 30 and 15, centre seconds, blued spooned hands. The case back with polychrome enamel painted flowers, the band with cloisonné enamel, the pendant also with cloisonné enamel and pearl-set, both bezels set with pearls. Movement signed.
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Diameter: 58 mm
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Signed: Bovet Fleurier
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Bovet was established in 1822 by the four Bovet brothers, including Edouard who had settled in Canton, China. The company rose to prominence for its Chinese watches that were made in Fleurier, Switzerland. Whilst Edouard Bovet settled in Canton, brothers Alphonse and Frédéric, who had stayed behind in London, and a third brother, Gustave, a watchmaker living in Fleurier, set up a partnership to sell watches to China. The first bill of sale for the Bovet company was drafted in London, on May 1st Business thrived, and the company transferred its manufacturing activity to Fleurier.
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In 1824, Bovet began the production of watches in matching pairs. These were highly-prized gifts for the Chinese, who considered twins to be a sign of good fortune. In 1830, Maison Bovet, better known as the “Chinese Palace,” was built in Fleurier. In 1905 it became the Town Hall and the seat of the Qualité Fleurier Foundation, of which Bovet is a founder-member.
In 1835, the fourteenth-century Château de Môtiers, which stands above Val-de-Travers and Fleurier, was sold to Henri-Francois Dubois-Bovet which illustrates the fortune and the influence of the Bovet family in the Neuchâtel region. His great-grandchildren gifted the Château to the State of Neuchâtel in 1957.
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In 1857, at the first Exposition Universelle in Paris, Bovet was awarded a gold medal in the Luxury category for a pair of enamelled watches, a commission from the Emperor of China. Bovet continued to sell to China until 1900 when the company began to lose ground to rival production from Besançon in France and from the United States, as well as countless imitations.
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Cloisonné is an ancient technique for decorating metalwork objects with coloured material held in place or separated by metal strips or wire, normally of gold. In recent centuries, vitreous enamel has been used, but inlays of cut gemstones, glass and other materials were also used during older periods, indeed, cloisonné enamel very probably began as an easier imitation of cloisonné work using gems. The resulting objects can also be called cloisonné.
Signed: Bovet Fleurier
–
Bovet was established in 1822 by the four Bovet brothers, including Edouard who had settled in Canton, China. The company rose to prominence for its Chinese watches that were made in Fleurier, Switzerland. Whilst Edouard Bovet settled in Canton, brothers Alphonse and Frédéric, who had stayed behind in London, and a third brother, Gustave, a watchmaker living in Fleurier, set up a partnership to sell watches to China. The first bill of sale for the Bovet company was drafted in London, on May 1st Business thrived, and the company transferred its manufacturing activity to Fleurier.
–
In 1824, Bovet began the production of watches in matching pairs. These were highly-prized gifts for the Chinese, who considered twins to be a sign of good fortune. In 1830, Maison Bovet, better known as the “Chinese Palace,” was built in Fleurier. In 1905 it became the Town Hall and the seat of the Qualité Fleurier Foundation, of which Bovet is a founder-member.
In 1835, the fourteenth-century Château de Môtiers, which stands above Val-de-Travers and Fleurier, was sold to Henri-Francois Dubois-Bovet which illustrates the fortune and the influence of the Bovet family in the Neuchâtel region. His great-grandchildren gifted the Château to the State of Neuchâtel in 1957.
–
In 1857, at the first Exposition Universelle in Paris, Bovet was awarded a gold medal in the Luxury category for a pair of enamelled watches, a commission from the Emperor of China. Bovet continued to sell to China until 1900 when the company began to lose ground to rival production from Besançon in France and from the United States, as well as countless imitations.
–
Cloisonné is an ancient technique for decorating metalwork objects with coloured material held in place or separated by metal strips or wire, normally of gold. In recent centuries, vitreous enamel has been used, but inlays of cut gemstones, glass and other materials were also used during older periods, indeed, cloisonné enamel very probably began as an easier imitation of cloisonné work using gems. The resulting objects can also be called cloisonné.
Signed: Bovet Fleurier
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