Blancpain. A fine and rare 18K gold and citrine ring watch
Lot 167

Blancpain. A fine and rare 18K gold and citrine ring watch

Signed Blancpain, movement signed Blancpain Rayville SA, case no. 1409, circa 1950

Closed11 November 2019

Price Realised

CHF 2,500

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Blancpain. A fine and rare 18K gold and citrine ring watch
Signed Blancpain, movement signed Blancpain Rayville SA, case no. 1409, circa 1950
Movement: cal. R-550, manual, 17 jewels, signed
Dial: signed
Case: band decorated with gold scrolls, a claw-set facet-edged citrine covering the dial, reeded ring band, back winding, 19 mm. diam., European ring size 49

Specialist note

The present ring watch is distinguished by the unusual use of a faceted yellow citrine instead of the commonly found crystal or glass.

Citrine is a transparent, yellow variety of Quartz, ranging in colour from pale to golden yellow, honey or almost brown, and may contain rainbow or sparkle inclusions. The name comes from the French word citron, meaning lemon.

The case of this very elegant and boldly designed example was made by the Geneva master casemaker F. Baumgartner, whose punch mark of number 2 in a key is found inside the back. Baumgartner made cases for Patek Philippe watches including the reference 2526.

Ring watches have always been greatly fascinating due to their small size and ingenuity to be set into a small piece of jewellery. Production of these pieces requires exceptional skill and they are therefore usually only executed by the best watchmakers and jewellers.