Hry GRAND JEAN, Locle. No 12902
Fine quality Swiss key wound watch for the American market, in the Liverpool style, circa 1850.
£1,495.00
Slim gold case with an engraved floral edge and with a stag and hound crossing a stream on the rear, the cover numbered as the movement and bearing the Swiss casemaker’s stamp FD. Three-quarter-plate going-barrel movement with sprung cap, nicely jewelled to the centre with ‘Liverpool window’ type jewel settings, the top plate engraved: DETATCHED LEVER 15 JEWELS PARACHUTE ET COMPENSATION. Straight line single-roller detached lever escapement, with polished steel club-tooth escape. Plain steel balance and spiral balance-spring with compensation-curb mounted on the index and Breguet-style ‘parachute’ shock protection on the balance jeweling. Finely engine-turned dial, the centre with hand painted rural scene, blued-steel Breguet-style hands. 47.5 mm diameter and only 13 mm deep including glass.
Henri Grandjean (1803-1879) a fine watch and chronometer maker based in Le Locle, reported to have travelled to South America around 1830 and known for his exports to both South and North America.
NB: This watch is an ideal example of the fine watches that some Swiss manufacturers were capable of making at this period, and is unusual both for its high quality features and that it bears the name and place of its actual maker. Most watches Swiss of this date sold into the American market bear false names and addresses in their long established attempt to deceive customers (Swiss fakes), and almost none are of such good quality as this example.
In good condition, obviously having been looked after, showing far fewer signs of age and use than most similar watches. Serviced and guaranteed.
Item reserved
Description
Slim gold case with an engraved floral edge and with a stag and hound crossing a stream on the rear, the cover numbered as the movement and bearing the Swiss casemaker’s stamp FD. Three-quarter-plate going-barrel movement with sprung cap, nicely jewelled to the centre with ‘Liverpool window’ type jewel settings, the top plate engraved: DETATCHED LEVER 15 JEWELS PARACHUTE ET COMPENSATION. Straight line single-roller detached lever escapement, with polished steel club-tooth escape. Plain steel balance and spiral balance-spring with compensation-curb mounted on the index and Breguet-style ‘parachute’ shock protection on the balance jeweling. Finely engine-turned dial, the centre with hand painted rural scene, blued-steel Breguet-style hands. 47.5 mm diameter and only 13 mm deep including glass.
Henri Grandjean (1803-1879) a fine watch and chronometer maker based in Le Locle, reported to have travelled to South America around 1830 and known for his exports to both South and North America.
NB: This watch is an ideal example of the fine watches that some Swiss manufacturers were capable of making at this period, and is unusual both for its high quality features and that it bears the name and place of its actual maker. Most watches Swiss of this date sold into the American market bear false names and addresses in their long established attempt to deceive customers (Swiss fakes), and almost none are of such good quality as this example.
In good condition, obviously having been looked after, showing far fewer signs of age and use than most similar watches. Serviced and guaranteed.
