Antiquorum Sale: 19th Century China Watches
-- JCK-Jewelers Circular Keystone, 10/6/2008 9:22:00 AM
Rare watches made for the 19th century Chinese market are highlights of watch auctioneer Antiquorum’s ‘Important Collector’s Wristwatches, Pocket Watches, Clocks and Horological Tools’ sale Nov. 15 and 16. The auction will be held at the Grand Hotel Kempinski in Geneva, Switzerland.
The sale comprises about 650 timepieces, including a private collection of nine exceptional and rare enameled pocket watches made for the Chinese market and featured in a separate catalogue entitled ‘Imperial Treasures’.
The two star pieces of the collection are a gold and enamel automaton pocket watch (1810) and a mirror image pair of enamel pocket watches, given by England’s King George III to Chinese Emperor Jiaqing in 1816.
Other highlights of the sale include a pink 18k Patek Philippe Grande Complication; a Rolex Oyster Perpetual officially-certified chronometer, given by Rolex in 1945 to General Henri Guisan, commander-in-chief of the Swiss Army in World War II; and the Chapiro collection, a private collection of pocket watches, mostly French, with rare escapements from the 17th to the 20th century.
The watches will be shown in Taipei, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Geneva.
