Lot 586

Le Roy & Fils, Palais Royal, 13 & 15 Galerie Montpensier, Paris, 211 Regent Street, London, Movement No. 8434, 475 mm, circa 1880
An outstanding 8-day precision table clock with half hour/hour strike, perpetual calendar, retrograde date, moon age, moon phase and a rare Coupe Perdu escapement according to Casimir Desfontaines with centre seconds
Case: bronze, firegilt. Dial: enamel chapter rings. Movm.: brass full plate movement, 1 hammer / 1 bell, 2 barrels, compensation grid-iron pendulum with spring suspension.
Casimir Halley Desfontaines acquired the house Leroy in 1845; he was a brilliant engineer who had worked for the brand as watchmaker. He kept the name Leroy & Fils and the company was extremely successful under his leadership. In 1870 a London branch opened in Regent Street. Desfontaines’ enhancements of the Coup Perdu lever escapement is regarded as groundbreaking.