Lot 653

Sandoz, Le Locle, Case No. 82354, 53 mm, 131 g, circa 1895
A gentleman's very fine and rare gold enamel minute repeating pocket watch studded with half pearls made for the Chinese market - with original box
Case: 18k gold, engine-turned and translucent red enamelled back lid decorated with an opaque polychrome enamelled scene of a young lady playing a flute while sitting in field of flowers, half pearl studded bezels, case band decorated with translucent red enamelled lozenges and foliage, florally engraved gold dome, pusher for seconds stop via crown, slide for repeating mechanism. Dial: enamel, radial Roman hours, centre seconds, gemstone-set, florally decorated hands. Movm.: bridge movement, frosted, gilt, 2 hammers / 2 gongs, governor for repetition, "U.S. Pat. Jul. 29.90", chatoned centre wheel, screw compensation balance, regulator tail.
This is one of the relatively rare enamel watches with complications. There have been several companies with the name "Sandoz" in Le Locle; the one in question was most likely case maker Frédéric Henri Sandoz (1851-1913), son of a watchmaker, who founded his company in 1870. The enamelling and particularly the painting must have been carried out by one of the outstanding enamel painters in Geneva at the time, who, in contrast to their colleagues in earlier centuries, remained anonymous.

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