BARRAUD, London. No 2136
A most wonderful and early watch by this famous maker, in almost mint condition.
£6,745.00
Beautifully engine-turned 22ct gold pair case, case makers HPC (Hanna & Peter Crammillion, Clerkenwell Green) and hallmarked 1786/7, the most fashionable outer with a hidden joint and bearing a date letter one year later than the inner. Capped fullplate fusee movement with finely engraved balance cock and slide plate. Cylinder (dead-beat) escapement. Steel balance, spiral balance spring. Enamel dial with stylish ‘railway track’ minute chapter and in perfect condition, original gold ‘arrow head’ hands. 52 mm diameter.
Paul Philip Barraud, founder of the firm, one of the most interesting London retailers of fine and interesting watches, clocks and chronometers throughout the late 18th and 19th century. This ‘1st series’ watch is one of the earliest known by P P Barraud, being within the first ten recorded examples. See the important Book on …Barraud and its Supplement by Cedric Jagger, although this watch was unknown to Jagger and is not recorded by him.
NB: The engine-turning on the outer case is of outstanding quality. The only example of this early date that is similar, and that I remember, is on the Breguet-type tourbillon sold by Recordon, No 1297, to King George III in 1808. This was sold at Sothebys in July 2020 for £1.5 million. The engine-turning on this watch by Barraud is in similar outstanding condition, and is more elaborate in its rose-engine work than the Recordon.
Not quite ’as new’ but the best of its kind I have ever seen and it is, considering the relative softness of 22 carat gold, a remarkable survival. The hands and high dome glass are almost certainly also original and the whole watch shows almost no signs of use or age – an item truly worthy of museum display. So much so I have not had the watch serviced, but I will include this at no extra cost if wanted by its new owner. Though not touched by me, it both winds and runs happily.
Item reserved
Description
Beautifully engine-turned 22ct gold pair case, case makers HPC (Hanna & Peter Crammillion, Clerkenwell Green) and hallmarked 1786/7, the most fashionable outer with a hidden joint and bearing a date letter one year later than the inner. Capped fullplate fusee movement with finely engraved balance cock and slide plate. Cylinder (dead-beat) escapement. Steel balance, spiral balance spring. Enamel dial with stylish ‘railway track’ minute chapter and in perfect condition, original gold ‘arrow head’ hands. 52 mm diameter.
Paul Philip Barraud, founder of the firm, one of the most interesting London retailers of fine and interesting watches, clocks and chronometers throughout the late 18th and 19th century. This ‘1st series’ watch is one of the earliest known by P P Barraud, being within the first ten recorded examples. See the important Book on …Barraud and its Supplement by Cedric Jagger, although this watch was unknown to Jagger and is not recorded by him.
NB: The engine-turning on the outer case is of outstanding quality. The only example of this early date that is similar, and that I remember, is on the Breguet-type tourbillon sold by Recordon, No 1297, to King George III in 1808. This was sold at Sothebys in July 2020 for £1.5 million. The engine-turning on this watch by Barraud is in similar outstanding condition, and is more elaborate in its rose-engine work than the Recordon.
Not quite ’as new’ but the best of its kind I have ever seen and it is, considering the relative softness of 22 carat gold, a remarkable survival. The hands and high dome glass are almost certainly also original and the whole watch shows almost no signs of use or age – an item truly worthy of museum display. So much so I have not had the watch serviced, but I will include this at no extra cost if wanted by its new owner. Though not touched by me, it both winds and runs happily.
