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AN EMPIRE ONE-DAY MARINE CHRONOMETER
Lot 183

AN EMPIRE ONE-DAY MARINE CHRONOMETER

LOUIS BERTHOUD, PARIS, NO. 78. CIRCA 1803

Closed8 December 2011

Price Realised

GBP 10,625

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AN EMPIRE ONE-DAY MARINE CHRONOMETER
LOUIS BERTHOUD, PARIS, NO. 78. CIRCA 1803
BOX: three tier brass-mounted mahogany, almost certainly a French Marine replacement of Berthoud's silver tabatière-form original, with ivory plaque to front inscribed '78/LS BERTHOUD', interior lid with paper label for 'E. BOUDEAUD' dated 1922, with brass plate and bowl DIAL: 70 mm. diameter, fine white enamel, of regulator format, with delicate blued steel hands, signed 'No.78/L.s Berthoud' (its reverse inscribed 'Vincent') MOVEMENT: circular plates joined by conical pillars, chain and fusee, maintaining power, fine pivoted detent escapement, sub-assembly above with cut bimetallic compensated balance with blues steel helical spring, the back plate signed 'Construite Par/Louis Berthoud/No.78', similarly signed along the edge of the top plate; associated winding key numbered '243'
The box -- 3 in. (8 cm.) high; 4 in. (10 cm.) wide; 5 in. (12.5 cm.) deep

Sold to the French Marine on 25 Frimaire, Year XII of the Revolution (17 December 1803), then to Monsieur Reverdi.
Antiquorum Geneva, 17 October 1992, lot 91.
Auktionen Dr H. Crott, 9 November 1996, lot 713.

Specialist note

According to the Berthoud workbooks (see Jean-Claude Sabrier, La Longitude en mer a l'heure de Louis Berthoud et Henri Motel, Geneva, 1993, p. 537) this chronometer was sold on 25 Frimaire an XII (17 December 1803) for 2000 francs to the French Marine and it was subsequently bought back from the Marine and sold to Monsier Reverdi. It is originally described by Berthoud as having 'boete d'argent'; this suggests the chronometer was originally housed in a silver drum case (in the form of a tobacco box) and mounted within a gimbal within a mahogany box. It is likely this was replaced at some point by the French Marine, for the present 'deck watch style' arrangement.
A similarly-cased Berthoud chronometer, No. 93, originally sold in Year XIII was sold at Antiquorum, 10 April 1994, lot 196 (43,700 Swiss francs).
Pierre Louis (Louis) Berthoud (1754-1813) was apprenticed to his father Pierre (1740-1767) at twelve. His exceptional skills were recognized by his famous uncle, Ferdinand Berthoud (1727-1807), who brought him to Paris. Louis succeeded his uncle in 1807 as Horloger de la Marine until his death in 1813 when Motel, who had been his apprentice, took over. He was succeeded by his nephews Louis and Charles Auguste who also later became Horlogers de la Marine.