Centuries of Time: A Private Collection

Centuries of Time: A Private Collection

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 1334. An unusual gold and enamel cello-form watch incorporating a vinaigrette Circa 1840, no. 272.

Nourou à Paris

An unusual gold and enamel cello-form watch incorporating a vinaigrette Circa 1840, no. 272

Auction Closed

May 14, 02:23 PM GMT

Estimate

1,500 - 2,500 CHF

Lot Details

Description

Nourou à Paris


An unusual gold and enamel cello-form watch incorporating a vinaigrette

Circa 1840, no. 272


• Movement: gilded full plate, verge escapement, plain three-arm balance, fusee and chain, cylindrical pillars, signed and numbered Nourou à Paris, 272

• Dial: white enamel, Roman numerals, arcaded outer Arabic minute ring, aperture for winding

• Case: gold, the sound board, sides and case back of red guilloché enamel with chips and losses, back centred with a musical score and gold paillon branches, the fingerboard and tailpiece of black enamel, gold strings, the interior set with the watch and above with a small stoppered reserve for vinaigrette above


length 76mm, width 33mm

R. Chadwick, A Voyage Through Time, London: Unicorn, 2020, p. 259.
Watches in the form of musical instruments were a popular novelty item during the second quarter of the 19th century. Many of the cases of these watches were produced in Vienna, Austria. This 'Cello' watch is particularly unusual for its inclusion of a vinaigrette within the case.