Pocket Watches · Pocket watch
18K gold Swiss Minute Repeater H/c pocket watch, Signed, c. 1905
- Maker / attribution
- Unrecorded in source
- Date
- c. 1905
- Historical period
- Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
- Country of origin
- Switzerland
- Object type
- Pocket watch
- Materials / technique
- 18k gold, gold, yellow gold
- Auction house
- LiveAuctioneers auction archive
- Lot
- Item 102178457
- Credit line
- Auction lot record: lot 1100, Fine & Decorative Arts - Day 1, Dan Morphy Auctions (2021), via LiveAuctioneers
- Catalogue title (original)
- 18K GOLD SWISS MINUTE REPEATER H/C POCKET WATCH, SIGNED (English)
View the source record (auction lot) ↗ (opens another website in a new tab)Suggest a correction
Record summary
Catalogued by LiveAuctioneers auction archive (lot Item 102178457), this is a pocket watch, made in Switzerland, dated c. 1905. The Atlas places it in the Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking period (1900 – 1945) of its Pocket Watches collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: 18k gold, gold, yellow gold. The record is illustrated with 4 photographs.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
Lot description — Dan Morphy Auctions
18k yellow gold fine Swiss J. Borbolla minute repeating hunting cased pocket watch. Circa 1905. Case diameter measures 49mm. Beautifully hand engraved covers with feather and leaves, having an oval frame/shield on back reverse. Cuvette engraved with a gold medal seal from the Louisiana Exposition, signed Chronometro J. Borbolla, Habana. Matte off-white dial with black Roman numerals and blued steel spade hands. Gross weight 80.0 grams. Case is fully hallmarked and numbered. Movement: nickel bridge, straight line lever escapement, 32 jewels, bi-metallic compensated balance, Breguet spring, jeweled to the hammers, unmarked. Watch is very good running order. Repeater functions tested, working and chiming properly. Case Diameter: 49mm. Case Material: 18K Yellow Gold. Case Number: 5497. Case Type: Hunter Case, Hand Engraved. Chapter: Roman, Black. Complications: Minute Repeater. Condition: Excellent Working Order. Dial: Matte, Off-white, metal. Gross Weight: 80.0 grams. Hands: Black Steel Spade. Movement: Keyless, Pendant Set. Signed: "J. Borbolle, Habana" on cuvette. Subsidiary Dials: Constant Seconds. Condition: (Excellent). Dimensions:
Historical context
Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
The wristwatch displaces the pocket watch; waterproof cases, self-winding and grand complications.
The pocket watch reached technical maturity and then began to give way to the wristwatch after the First World War. Complicated watches for collectors such as Henry Graves Jr. and James Ward Packard, railroad watches, and slim Art Deco dress watches are characteristic.
Read the period in the timelineMore pocket watches from this periodEarlier: Industrial Revolution
Atlas type guide
Repeating watches
Before electric light, telling the time in the dark was a real problem. Repeating watches strike the time on demand when a slide or push-piece is operated: quarter repeaters sound hours and quarters, minute repeaters hours, quarters and minutes. Edward Barlow and Daniel Quare disputed the invention in London in the 1680s. Early repeaters struck on a bell inside the case; Abraham-Louis Breguet introduced the gong (a coiled steel wire) around 1780, allowing thinner watches.
Repeaters require a separate train with racks, snails and a governor to control the striking speed, and are among the most demanding complications to make and adjust. Swiss makers of the Vallée de Joux specialised in repeating ébauches in the nineteenth century.
What to look for
- A slide on the case band or a push-piece through the pendant.
- Gongs encircling the movement (after c. 1780) or a bell in the case (earlier); pierced case for sound.
- The racks, snails and governor visible under the dial or on the movement.
- Terms such as 'Minutes', 'Quarts' or 'Répétition' on the dial or cuvette.
Dating clues
- Bell-striking quarter repeaters: c. 1690–1800.
- Gong repeaters and dumb repeaters (striking on the case): after c. 1780.
- Minute repeaters became more common after c. 1830 with Vallée de Joux ébauches.
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
Read next:Minute repeater
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