Cartier
Couteau | A fine and unusual yellow gold and enamel ultra thin half hunting case keyless lever dress watch, with engine-turned dial, Circa 1925
No reserve
Session begins in
September 19, 03:00 AM GMT
Estimate
40,000 - 65,000 HKD
Lot Details
Description
Cartier
Couteau
A fine and unusual yellow gold and enamel ultra thin half hunting case keyless lever dress watch, with engine-turned dial, Circa 1925
Dial: gilt engine-turned dial signed Cartier, black Arabic numerals, blued steel Breguet hands
Calibre: cal. 17’’’, frosted gilt lever movement signed Cartier, bi-metallic compensation balance with timing and poising screws, flat hairspring
Case: 18k yellow gold case, engine-turned front and back cover with white champlevé enamel border, front cover with polished chapter ring with white champlevé enamel Arabic numerals and inner minute ring, polished central back cover with white champlevé enamel initials BB
Case number: snap on back cover numbered 2‘679 and 2’250, front cover numbered 2’679, inside front cover, back cover and pendant stamped with French owl import hallmarks, bow stamped with maker’s hallmark
Size: 47 mm diameter
Accessories: none
In the 20th century, Cartier’s vintage pocket watches were best known for being ultra thin. Whether simple or highly complications, Cartier always pushed the limits to make them as thin as possible.
Cartier named this model “Couteau” (French for “knife”) because the case is under 4 mm thick. Made around the 1930s, the present watch uses an ultra-thin movement just under 2 mm, supplied from the European Watch Co. (EWC). Founded in the 1920s, as a joint venture company between Cartier and Jaeger-LeCoultre, EWC exclusively supplied Cartier with high-quality LeCoultre movements. The movement is gilt and inlay at least 16 jewels to ensure the movement can be smoothly operated. To protect the fragile balance wheel, three steel screws are evenly placed surrounding it for extra support. The dial has a gilt background with engine-turned various patterns, giving the dial a richly layered sense under light. The half-hunting case features a hinged front cover and snap on back cover, fully engine-turned, and decorated with simple white enamel lines, showcasing Cartier’s excellent sense of balance in design. Both the hour numerals on the front cover and the original owner’s initials on the back are using champlevé enamel.
Couteau series watches with a half-hunting case are very rare in the market today. Also, there is little room for extra decoration due to such thin cases. This makes a Couteau pocket watch featuring both champlevé enamel and engine-turned engraving even more rare and valuable.
卡地亞 Couteau
精細及罕有黃金及琺瑯超薄半獵殼懷錶，備機刻錶盤，約1925年製