Lot 347

J.J. Badolett & Cie.

Charmilles

A collection of 3 pocket watches
A Geneva pocket watch

The Swiss family Badollet produced several generations of fine watchmakers from the 17th to the 20th century. Jean Jacques Badollet (1756-1829) founded the company J. J. Badollet in 1779 in Geneva. Jean Moise Badollet (1811-1854) was sole proprietor from 1828 until 1854 and traded under the name "J. M. Badollet"; from 1837 the company name was "J. M.Badollet & Cie". Around 1890 the company name changed back to the original "J. J. Badollet"; this was the time when the "Charmilles" pocket watch was produced after the patents of Potter.
Around 1886 the American watchmaker Albert H. Potter (1836-1908) in Geneva constructed a low priced but reliable and precise pocket watch he named "Charmilles". He described it as "the best watch you can buy for 4.00 Dollars". The outstanding feature of the construction was the fact that the backplate and the case were cut in one piece.
This patent, with others pertaining to the Charmilles watch, was assigned to the New Haven Watch Company for a reputed fifty thousand dollars. The Charmilles watch was produced in a factory in Charmilles outside Geneva - hence the name of the watch - and was an attempt to create reliable timekeeping movements at low prices.