H. R. EKEGRÉN, GENÈVE [H. R. Ekegrén，日內瓦] | A RARE AND UNUSUAL GOLD HUNTING CASED MONTRE À TACT POCKET CHRONOMETER WITH DAY AND DATE CIRCA 1870, NO. 14546 [罕有黃金觸覺計時懷錶備日期及星期顯示，年份約1870，編號14546]

Antiquorum Geneva, 13 November 1999, lot 136

Antiquorum Geneva, 16 October 2005, lot 62

Henry Robert Ekegrén (1823-1896) was born in Denmark. He finished his apprenticeship at Urban Jürgensen in Copenhagen, worked for Jules Jürgensen in Le Locle, spent time working in London and Paris where he worked for Winnerl. He also worked for Adolph Lange. Ekegrén spent a year working for Henri Golay and then 10 years for the successor company of Golay-Leresche (see: K. Pritchard, Swiss Timepiece Makers, Vol. 1, p. E-19). The highly unusual combination of a chronometer escapement with à tact, and day and date indication illustrate the creative genius of this maker. Indeed, such was the reputation that Ekegrén built, that in 1891 his firm was sold to Ed. Koehn who left Patek Philippe in order to purchase it. Although Koehn would change the name of the company to Edouard Koehn, he would continue to sign his high grade watches 'H.R. Ekegrén' into the 1920s (see op.cit. p. E-20).