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SIGNED E. BUFFAT, FEC: & INVEN., CASE NO. 56402, 1860S
Details
Buffat. An historic and technically interesting Napoleonic gold openface two minute tourbillon pocketwatch with modified ruby duplex escapement
Signed E. Buffat, Fec: & Inven., case no. 56402, 1860s
The unusual matt silvered movement engraved with the Imperial crown of France, crossed Imperial sceptres and the Imperial eagle the remaining area engraved with bees, the three bridge tourbillon mechanism arranged in the form of the letter "N", chased and engraved with a floral design, inscribed military honours Alma, Inkermann and the words Exposition Universelle, the silvered and engraved platform supporting the four-armed silver cage with bimetallic balance, flat blued steel hairspring with endcurves, unusual gold escapement of ruby duplex type, the carriage advancing every second on the third oscillation of the balance, the white enamel dial with the chapters spelling out NAPOLEON III in red letters with blue floral decoration, similarly the ten second divisions of the subsidiary seconds dial spelling LA GLO..E for La Gloire, blued steel spade hands, in gold engine-turned case numbered 56402, casemaker's mark CAD, the reverse engraved with the Imperial Coat of Arms, with glazed cuvette, in (distressed) presentation box stamped with the letter "N" surmounted by a crown, movement signed, case numbered
52 mm. diam.
Signed E. Buffat, Fec: & Inven., case no. 56402, 1860s
The unusual matt silvered movement engraved with the Imperial crown of France, crossed Imperial sceptres and the Imperial eagle the remaining area engraved with bees, the three bridge tourbillon mechanism arranged in the form of the letter "N", chased and engraved with a floral design, inscribed military honours Alma, Inkermann and the words Exposition Universelle, the silvered and engraved platform supporting the four-armed silver cage with bimetallic balance, flat blued steel hairspring with endcurves, unusual gold escapement of ruby duplex type, the carriage advancing every second on the third oscillation of the balance, the white enamel dial with the chapters spelling out NAPOLEON III in red letters with blue floral decoration, similarly the ten second divisions of the subsidiary seconds dial spelling LA GLO..E for La Gloire, blued steel spade hands, in gold engine-turned case numbered 56402, casemaker's mark CAD, the reverse engraved with the Imperial Coat of Arms, with glazed cuvette, in (distressed) presentation box stamped with the letter "N" surmounted by a crown, movement signed, case numbered
52 mm. diam.
Provenance
The Belin Collection, no. 49, Sotheby's, London, 29 November 1979, lot 176
Literature
Meis, Das Tourbillon, Laterna Magica, 1986, p. 119, fig. 67 and 68