Danish gold minute repeating split second chrono Circa 1885

A Danish minute repeating split-second chronograph Circa 1885

Kenmerk: SA1004
Diameter: 51 mm

Estimate: € 7.500 - 15.000
Price sold: € 16.750

Gold hunting cased minute repeating split-second chronograph watch with date
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A rare Danish 18 Carat yellow gold hunting cased minute repeating split-second chronograph watch with date and enamel family portrait signed j. graff, circa 1885, damascened nickel lever movement, bimetallic compensation balance, swan’s neck regulator, gold cuvette, made by H.R. Ekegrén Copenhagen.
White enamel dial, two vertical subsidiary dials for date and constant seconds, painted enamel portraits of a lady and a gentleman.
Front and back lids with vari coloured gold monogram and date, secret inner lid with a painted polychrome enamel portrait of Ehret family signed J. Graff, movement signed by the maker, case numbered.
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Diameter 51 mm
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Signed: H.R. Ekegrén

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This watch was customized for George Ehret, a German-born beer brewer in New York City in the late-19th and early-20th Centuries. He was known for his scientific attention to detail and high quality product. His Hell Gate Brewery in Yorkville on the Upper East Side of Manhattan made him a millionaire after he became one of the first brewers to introduce lager beer to the American market.

This watch was given to Ehret on his 50th birthday by his wife and nine living children. The exquisite portrait of all the family members by J. Graff, as well as the portraits of Ehret and his wife on the dial show the wealth and high character of the family.

John Graff (1836-1902) created portraits in enamel of such high quality and resemblance to their subject that his work was world renowned around the globe. He received commissions from Indian maharajas, European nobility and American industrialists, among others. Because of his mastery in the field, John Graff’s signature on watches and snuff boxes became highly sought after during his lifetime and continues to command a premium among collectors of enamel works.

For images of watches with J. Graff’s enamel portraits, see Jaquet, E. and Chapuis, A., ‘Technique and History of the Swiss Watch’.

Signed: H.R. Ekegren