93rd Auction
2016/5/14
Lot 199
Bovet à Fleurier, Case No. 1031 / 3126, 54 mm, 91/102 g, circa 1840
A pair of pocket watches for the Chinese market with original leather box
Case: silver. Dial: enamel. Movm.: bridge movement, keywind, brass balance.
Even though this pair has not been decorated with one of the marvellous enamel paintings that are so often seen on Bovet’s timepieces, the two watches still boast extremely lavishly ornamented movements that were created especially to please the Chinese taste.
Edouard Bovet
Master Swiss watchmaker Edouard Bovet was one of the many who concentrated on the Chinese market. He arrived in Canton in 1830 carrying five top-quality watches, all of which he sold immediately, to mandarins who paid him in gold bars. Delighted, he wrote to his brother in Switzerland, enthusing about the market potential and asking him to send more watches, but only of the very best quality, since this was where the demand lay and there was no difficulty about payment. The 17th century Ching Dynasty Emperor K'ang-Hsi was a great admirer of the European sciences, especially that of horology, and he established several imperial workshops in which Chinese craftsmen made clocks and watches under the direction of imported European watchmakers, amongst whom were several masters. At K'ang-Hsi's invitation, the Zougeese master watchmaker François-Louis Stadlin became director of the imperial workshops, and the Emperor's favourite.
A pair of pocket watches for the Chinese market with original leather box
Case: silver. Dial: enamel. Movm.: bridge movement, keywind, brass balance.
Even though this pair has not been decorated with one of the marvellous enamel paintings that are so often seen on Bovet’s timepieces, the two watches still boast extremely lavishly ornamented movements that were created especially to please the Chinese taste.
Edouard Bovet
Master Swiss watchmaker Edouard Bovet was one of the many who concentrated on the Chinese market. He arrived in Canton in 1830 carrying five top-quality watches, all of which he sold immediately, to mandarins who paid him in gold bars. Delighted, he wrote to his brother in Switzerland, enthusing about the market potential and asking him to send more watches, but only of the very best quality, since this was where the demand lay and there was no difficulty about payment. The 17th century Ching Dynasty Emperor K'ang-Hsi was a great admirer of the European sciences, especially that of horology, and he established several imperial workshops in which Chinese craftsmen made clocks and watches under the direction of imported European watchmakers, amongst whom were several masters. At K'ang-Hsi's invitation, the Zougeese master watchmaker François-Louis Stadlin became director of the imperial workshops, and the Emperor's favourite.
Sold
estimated
2.700—3.700 €
Price realized
3.600 €