CONSTANT PIGUET

CONSTANT PIGUET, CARILLON WESTMINSTER CHIME FOUR HAMMERS, MINUTE REPEATING POCKET WATCH, 18K YELLOW GOLD A extremely rare and fine, large, 18K yellow gold, hunting case, keyless manual winding, minute repeating pocket watch features Carillon Westminster Chime with four hammers on four gongs and white enamel dial,large Breguet numerals, outer minute track, subsidiary seconds and blued steel Breguet hands.The front cover is decorated with white enamel “GB”. Brand: Constant Piguet Year: circa 1910s Case: 3657 Caliber: 20”’, gilt brass, 32 jewels, straight-line lever escapement, cut bimetallic compensation balance, blued steel Breguet balance spring with overcoil, index regulator, repeating on four gongs with four hammers activated by a slide on the band, punched with Constant Piguet’s partial patent number”119”. Diameter: 55mm. Weight: 123gr. (approx.) Signature: case and movement Grading System: AAA (Excellent) Case: 3-8 (Good , Slightly scratched) Dial: 2-01 (Very good , HANDS Original) EUR: 20,600 - 32,000 CHF: 18,800 - 29,300 USD: 23,000 - 35,700 JPY: 3,640,000 - 5,650,000 Property of an important Asian collector Carillon minute-repeating watches are very rare; only a few are known to feature four hammers or Westminster chimes. On March 20, 1896, Constant Piguet patented this carillon minute-repeating system under Swiss patent No. 11948. Makers who specialized in this type of watch included Constant Piguet, Edouard JeanRichard, and Victorin Piguet. The tunes known to be played by four-hammer carillons are: Westminster chimes The Swiss National Anthem «God Save the King» A watch playing «God Save the King» was sold by Antiquorum in Geneva on November 11, 2006 (Lot 53). Similar watches were sold by Antiquorum in Hong Kong on June 8, 2008 (Lot 86), and in Geneva on October 4, 2009 (Lot 353), and November 14, 2009 (Lot 241). A similar watch with Westminster chimes was sold by Antiquorum in Geneva on March 16, 2008 (Lot 569), for 92,400 Swiss Francs. Constant Piguet In 1896, Constant Piguet was listed as a gong maker in Le Sentier, in the canton of Vaud, producing carillon-repeating watches with four hammers. On March 20, 1896, he patented this carillon minute-repeating system under Swiss patent No. 11948. Today, these are the watches for which he is best known; they bear his patent number on the movement. (Literature: Journal Suisse d’Horlogerie, 1896–97, p. 325). Westminster Chimes The Westminster chimes a re more accurately called the Cambridge Chimes. They first appeared in 1793 at St. Mary’s Church in Cambridge. They were written by the Rev. Dr. Joseph Jowett and Dr. John Randall, working with undergraduate William Crotch (who later became the first Principal of the Royal Academy of Music), and were later adopted by Lord Grimthorpe—designer of the great «Big Ben» clock—for the Palace of Westminster. The chimes are based on four notes from Handel’s Messiah and are known locally in Cambridge a s «Jowett’s Jig.»

Estimate:$22,954.68

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