108th Auction

2023/5/20

Lot 415

International Watch Co.

An elegant, thin Schaffhausen pocket watch, sold on 2 September 1912 to Joseph Marchak, Kiev

Sold

estimated
1.3001.800 €
Price realized
1.700 €
specific features
Case
14 K rose gold, engine-turned, gold dome with engraving: "Fabriquée spécialement pour Joseph Marchak".
Dial
Enamel.
Movement
3/4 plate movement, "Patent 31457" (Rauschenbach's patented device for controlling the winding of movements with a spring barrel), "Patent D64025", club-tooth lever escapement, screw compensation balance.
Case no.578312
Cal.52, 19''' H5
Diam.55 mm
Circa1910
Ctry.Switzerland
Wt.100 g


Due to the supreme quality as a goldsmith and jeweller, Marchak was known as the "Cartier of Kiew" and had a reputation for his magnificent Art Deco and retro-style pieces of jewellery. Joseph Marchak (1854-1918) was born in Ignatovka near Kiev and began his apprenticeship as a goldsmithin 1868. In 1878 he set up shop as a goldsmith and jeweller maker, soon to become one of the most reputed jewellers in the Russian empire. Marchak was awarded a medal at the world exhibition in Chicago 1893 as well as in Antwerp in 1894. The "Cartier of Kiew" was regarded as a direct competitor of Fabergè. Joseph Marchak died in 1918. Two years after his father’s death, Joseph‘s son Alexandre opened a shop at the Rue de la Paix, where the qualiy of his work and his edgy designs made him famous and brought the Marchak brand worldwide recognition.
This watch is illustrated and described in: Sammler Journal, issue 9/2005, p. 38ff.