Lot 356

L. Leroy & Cie.

Dress Watch

A very fine, thin pocket watch with perpetual calendar and moon phase

Sold

Movement as well as the exquisite 18 K gold case of this beautiful dress watch are in excellent condition. The dial features auxiliary dials for date and day of the week in French; there are also an auxiliary dial displaying the months in combination with the leap years and a fan shaped opening for the moon phase.
Since the launch of the Leroy 01 in 1900, Leroy & Cie. have a reputation for creating "ultra-complicated" timepieces. Consisting of 975 individual parts and over 24 complications, the Leroy 01 was the most complicated watch ever up until 1989. In 1900 the watch was awarded a Grand Prix Spécial du Jury at the World Exhibition in Paris.

Born in 1859 in Argenteuil, the eldest son in a family of 14 children, he soon became familiar with the art of precision watchmaking. His father, Théodore-Marie Leroy, was well known as a maker of chronometers, Watchmaker to the Navy and a member of the Légion d'onneur. He employed Louis in the workshops where he quickly became the best of apprentices. When he was barely 16 years old he presented a piece that attracted great attention at the competition of the Paris Chamber of Watchmakers, and by the age of 20 he was an approved watchmaker. He spent a year in England, training under a manufacturer in Clerkenwell shortly after the London Universal Exhibition, and soon gained a reputation for being talented and ambitious with a fiercely enquiring mind. Casimir Halley Desfontaines recognized his ability and employed him at Le Roy & Sons, and soon afterwards in the Paris workshops. This was the dawn of a new era in society and the start of the company period of absolute excellence. Louis' relationship with the Desfontaines family soon developed into a close friendship. When Casimir died, his son George took over the business, but his reliance on the expert advice of Leroy meant that it was he who emerged as the real leader. He became a partner in the business in 1888 and took it over completely one year later, changing the name to "Leroy & Cie, ancienne maison Le Roy & Fils". From 1895 onwards, the company archives only refer to the name "Leroy & Cie".