Lot 80

Pierre Urbain Dufour, Genève, 31 mm, 27 g, circa 1670
A very rare one-handed Renaissance pre-balance spring pendant watch in an agate case, ornamented with gold and enamel
Case: carved agate/18k gold, raised enamel decoration to the bezels, large lateral hinge. Dial: white enamel chapter ring, radial Roman numerals, engine-turned and translucent red enamelled centre, iron single hand. Movm.: full plate movement, keywind, signed, gilt, gut/fusee, baluster movement pillars, ratchet wheel set up with blued steel spring, verge escapement, two-arm blued steel balance without balance spring, fine florally engraved, pierced balance cock.
An almost identical watch is in the Musée international d'horlogerie in La Chaux-de-Fonds; another watch is in the Lord Sandberg collection, see page 211.
Pierre Urbain Dufour (1643-1690)
Pierre Urbain Dufour was a Swiss watchmaker was born on February 27, 1643 in Geneva as a son of watchmaker Abraham Dufour and his wife Michée Le Maistre. Pierre Urbain married Madeleine de La Rue in Geneva in 1668; Madeleine‘s parents were active in local politics. Pierre and Madeleine had five children but two of them died at a very young age. Their son Jean Antoine Dufour became a watchmaker too and married Judith Gentil (1671-1725), a sister of Catherine Gentil who became the wife of Bernard Dominicé. Pierre Urbain Dufour died in 1690 at the lage of 47.
Source: http://watch-wiki.org/index.php?title=Dufour,_Pierre_Urbain, as of 03/26/2015

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