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
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.