Exceptional Discoveries: The Olmsted Complications Collection
Marius Lecoultre
A rare oversized yellow gold open-faced keyless two train minute repeating clock watch with perpetual calendar, retrograde date, moon phases and jumping chronograph seconds without reset, Made for George C. Thomas in 1905
Auction Closed
December 8, 10:03 PM GMT
Estimate
50,000 - 70,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
Movement: two train frosted gilded movement, tandem winding, superimposed ratchet wheels with wolf’s teeth, lever escapement, highly jewelled, bi-metallic compensation balance, blued steel hairspring with overcoil, polished steel hammers repeating on two coiled gongs, unusual precision regulation with index and scale to auxiliary crescent-shaped plate fixed to the balance cock, chronograph levers visible to backplate, signed and numbered Marius Lecoultre, Genève, No. 4424
Dial: triple sunk white enamel dial, Roman numerals, three oval form apertures for day of week, months and moon phases, constant seconds dial at 6 o'clock, all below retrograde date sector, blued steel hands and central gold chronograph seconds
Case: oversized 18k yellow gold case with reed bezels, case back with rayed engine-turned design above a vacant oval cartouche at VI o'clock, button for trip repeat through crown, polished band with pusher for chronograph at I o’clock, olivette for hand-setting at XI, slide for strike/silent at VIII, polished cuvette engraved Made for Georges C. Thomas Philadelphia by Marius Lecoultre Watchmaker Geneva 1905, case and cuvette stamped 4424
Signed: cuvette, dial and movement
Depth: 25 mm
Diameter: 63 mm
George C. Thomas Jr. (1873-1932)
George C. Thomas Jr., known to friends and associates as “The Captain,” was born in Philadelphia in 1873 into a prominent local family. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 1894, he followed in his father’s footsteps to the prestigious banking firm Drexel & Company, founded by Anthony Joseph Drexel, co-founder of Drexel, Morgan & Co., the predecessor of J. P. Morgan & Co.
After thirteen years at the firm, Thomas left banking in 1907 and is remembered today as a true polymath who, beyond his career as a financier, distinguished himself as an Army Captain, a rose breeder, and an innovative golf course designer. Thomas’s lifelong passion for golf and course design likely began on his family’s estate, where he played from an early age and, as a teenager, spent his free time designing and laying out his own golf courses. In Philadelphia he befriended fellow architects Hugh Wilson, George Crump, William Flynn, and A. W. Tillinghast - figures who together became known as the “Philadelphia School” of the golden age of golf course design.
He attained the rank of Captain while serving in the American Army Air Service during the First World War, where the nickname “The Captain” stuck for the rest of his life. His post-war years were devoted to his twin passions for botany and golf course design, pursuits that drew him to the Golden State. Thomas moved to California in 1919 in search of ideal conditions for cultivating and hybridising roses, ultimately developing more than a thousand varieties during his lifetime. Alongside his horticultural work, he designed eleven golf courses, including his most celebrated creations: the North Course at Los Angeles Country Club (1921), host of the 2023 U.S. Open; Bel-Air Country Club (1926); and Riviera Country Club (1927), host of the 1948 U.S. Open, two PGA Championships, and today’s Genesis Invitational on the PGA Tour.
In 1930, Thomas completed his final course, the Stanford University Golf Course, situated in the foothills above the Stanford campus, where future World Golf Hall of Famers Tom Watson, Mickey Wright, and Tiger Woods would hone their games. This iconic design marked the culmination of a remarkable career, and its influence continues to be felt in golf architecture worldwide.
It was during his years at Drexel & Company that Thomas likely commissioned the present minute repeating clock watch from the Genevan watchmaker and retailer Marius Lecoultre. Numbered 4424 and engraved Made for George Thomas Philadelphia by Marius Lecoultre Watchmaker Geneva 1905, the timepiece can be traced to Thomas’s later years in finance before his creative pursuits came to define his legacy.
Marius Lecoultre
Marius Lecoultre established his watchmaking business in 1848 and was recorded in Geneva at 8 Rue Bonivard where he served as a watchmaker, repairer and dealer. He had a reputation for the exceptional quality of his work and specialised in the production of high-quality complication watches. His development of a special chronograph system with unusual vertical engagement earnt him an honourable mention at the Geneva chronometry competition of 1887. Marius LeCoultre exhibited watches at the Universal Exposition in Chicago in 1893 and the Geneva national exhibition in 1896. By 1924, the firm was located at 20 Rue du Mont-Blanc. In excellent condition, the engravings and assay marks on the pendant and case are clear and crisp, the reeded bezel and engine turning on the back lid beautifully preserved.