Lot 437

Girard-Perregaux, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Case No. 200881, 56 mm, 148 g, circa 1890
A remarkable minute repeating hunting case pocket watch with automaton "Corrida" - made for the Spanish or South American market
Case: 18k rosé gold, lavishly florally engraved, case band engraved with geometrical pattern. Dial: outer enamel chapter ring with radial Roman hours. Movm.: bridge movement, 2 hammers, 2 gongs, Swiss Patent No 691 issued to Paul-Henri Stauffer for the automaton mechanism, gold screw compensation balance.
The central automaton with polychrome enamel figures: a bull nods its head at the hour, a matador stabs the bull with his espada at the quarter hour.
This piece is a wonderful example of the fine quality Swiss watches that were produced specially for the Hispanic market.
With its elaborately engraved case it is very likely to have been a special commission. As the watch is lavishly ornamented and has an extremely rare and unusual automaton scene of a matador fighting a bull in the centre, it can be assumed that it was created to the order of a nobleman.

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