112nd Auction

2025/5/10

Lot 317

Paul Buhré/Le Phare

An impressive, rare hunting case minute repeating pocket watch with date, Cyrillic weekday and month display, moon phase and chronograph for the Russian market

Sold

estimated
3.6006.000 €
Price realized
20.000 €
specific features
Case
14 K pink gold, guilloche pattern, applied partly enamelled coat of arms with Russian imperial double-headed eagle, inner lid with Cyrillic dedication engraving: "For the many years of solid relations and 30 years of loyal friendship, to dear Mitya from his grateful brother W. Voronov 1882-1912", gold dome with Cyrillic engraving on the inside: "Pavel Bure in the service of his Highness", glazed movement.
Dial
Enamel.
Movement
Bridge movement, 2 hammers / 2 gongs, Swiss patent engraving 334, lever escapement, large gold screw compensation balance.
Case no.72647
Diam.59 mm
Circa1910
Ctry.Russia/Switzerland
Wt.149 g


Paul Buhré took over the watch business from his father - also Paul Buhré - who had established it in 1815 in St Petersburg. He was purveyor to the court of the Russian Tsar and had branches in Moscow. The Buhré family was one of the most important retailers of watches in Russia, importing most of their timepieces from Switzerland. Around 1880 Paul Buhré founded a watch factory in Le Locle under his name, with Swiss watchmaker Paul Othenin-Girard as director of the company. When the company founder retired, Othenin-Girard continued the business together with his brother-in-law, watchmaker Georges Pfund in St Petersburg. During the revolution in 1917 the market in Russia collapsed and Buhré began specialising in deck watches, marine chronometers, chronographs and small pendulum table clocks. In 1963 Buhré was taken over by the DIXI group.