Live Auction 1357Important Watches
Louis Audemars, made for Charles Oudin. A fine, rare and early 18K gold half hunter case minute repeating perpetual calendar keyless lever watch with moon phases
Lot 254

Louis Audemars, made for Charles Oudin. A fine, rare and early 18K gold half hunter case minute repeating perpetual calendar keyless lever watch with moon phases

SIGNED CH. OUDIN, HER DE LA MARINE, PALAIS ROYAL 52, PARIS, MÉDAILLES DE 1806 A 1864, NO. 21'685, CASE STAMPED WITH LOUIS AUDEMARS' HALLMARKS AND NUMBERED 9'979, CIRCA 1865

Closed17 November 2008

Price Realised

CHF 23,750

Considering selling a similar item?

Discover its value with a complimentary estimate from our specialists.

More Information

How to sell

Louis Audemars, made for Charles Oudin. A fine, rare and early 18K gold half hunter case minute repeating perpetual calendar keyless lever watch with moon phases
Signed Ch. Oudin, Her de la Marine, Palais Royal 52, Paris, Médailles de 1806 a 1864, No. 21'685, case stamped with Louis Audemars' hallmarks and numbered 9'979, circa 1865
Gilt-finished jewelled movement, Audemars counterpoised lever or "Bishop's crook pallet", bimetallic compensation balance, repeating on two hammers onto two gongs, gold cuvette, white enamel dial, Roman numerals, aperture for moon phases and lunar calendar, three subsidiary dials for date, day and month with constant seconds, plain circular case, Roman numerals on blue enamel chapter ring to the glazed aperture in the front, repeating slide in the band, case stamped with Louis Audemars' hallmark and casemaker's initials A.M., cuvette and movement signed and numbered by Charles Oudin, dial signed Charles Oudin
53 mm. diam.

Specialist note

The present watch is a very fine example of a complicated timepiece for Louis Audemars' faithful client, the renowned Horloger de la Marine Charles Oudin in Paris and one of his main clients since around 1860.

It features Louis Audemars' early pendant winding and hand setting mechanism, developed by Hector Audemars in 1838 (see Louis-Benjamin Audemars - His Life and Work by Hartmut Zantke, p. 131), and his counterpoised lever, also called "Bishop's crook lever" (p. 192, pl. T92, op. cit).

The case is stamped with Louis Audemars' hallmarks consisting of a capital letter B in a shield for "Brassus", a lozenge-shaped cartouche with the double cross of Lorraine on a heart containing the capital letters "L.A." for Louis Audemars (p. 187, pl. T68, op. cit).

A similar minute repeating perpetual calendar watch with hanging moon phases to 12 o'clock, number 9'864, is described and illustrated on p. 246, op. cit. Amongst Audemars' earliest perpetual calendar watches, the aperture for the moon phases is "hanging" as opposed to the more commonly layout of the moon showing "upwards".

For an 18K gold, enamel and diamond-set minute repeating watch by Louis Audemars and biographical note on the firm see lot 87 in this auction.