{"title":"Sold Archive","description":"\u003cp\u003ePieces that have found their next home, kept on record with their research and photographs.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"omega-silver-open-face-grand-prix-paris-1900-sub-seconds-51-2mm-c-1911","title":"Silver Open-Face, Grand Prix Paris 1900 Era, c.1911","description":"\u003cp\u003eA large, honest Omega from the Grand Prix Paris 1900 era, running well and ready to wear or collect.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is a substantial Omega pocket watch in 0.800 silver, made around 1911. The case back interior (cuvette) carries the engraved marking OMEGA GRAND PRIX PARIS 1900, referencing the Grand Prix award Omega received at the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle, a genuine period marking used on the majority of Omega pocket watches produced between 1901 and 1914. The case serial, 3883220, dates the piece to approximately 1911 against Omega's published serial number chronology.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt 51.2mm, the case is larger than most pocket watches of this era, giving it real presence. The exterior case back is engine-turned with a floral cartouche holding a period owner's engraving; the name is no longer fully legible after a century of wear. Inside the case, alongside the Grand Prix cuvette marking, are the standard Swiss case marks of the period: an 0.800 fineness stamp, a crown-over-G Gallone finish mark indicating the gilt trim banding on the case, and an unattributed Swiss case-maker's punch.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe dial is signed OMEGA in white enamel, with Arabic numerals, a sub-seconds register at 6 o'clock, and ornate gold Art Nouveau-style hands, a nicer detail than the plain hands typically seen on watches of this type. The movement is from Omega's 19-ligne bar-calibre family (produced 1894-1911), finished in gilt with fine damaskeening.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMechanically, this watch is in strong working order: it winds smoothly, runs well, and needs no service. The knife-edge case back closes securely, and the pull-out crown sets the hands cleanly with no play.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCondition overall is graded Good, driven by honest, age-appropriate wear to the case exterior and interior. The dial and crystal are both Very Good with no chips or damage, and the movement is Excellent, clean and running well throughout.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Omega","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54248773026131,"sku":"PW-0067","price":480.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1080\/3121\/3907\/files\/omega-silver-pocket-watch-c1911-front.jpg?v=1783619324"},{"product_id":"unsigned-swiss-double-sided-full-calendar-moonphase-pocket-watch-r-bonner-thomas-portmadoc-c-1890","title":"Double-Sided Calendar and Moonphase, Portmadoc, c.1890","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eA rare Victorian Swiss lever pocket watch with automatic moonphase and a full triple calendar on the reverse, signed by R. Bonner Thomas, an established watchmaker of Portmadoc, North Wales, with over three decades in the trade.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is a watch that works on two faces and rewards anyone who takes the time to look at both.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe front presents a clean white enamel dial with bold Roman numerals, blued steel hands, a sub-seconds register at six o'clock, and a moonphase aperture occupying the upper half. The gilt moon face rotates automatically on a blue-black sky, tracking the lunar cycle without intervention. It is a striking and immediately legible dial, well proportioned, with the moonphase adding drama without cluttering the time display. The SWISS marking confirms the movement's origin.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTurn the watch over and an entirely separate world opens. A full triple calendar dial fills the reverse, protected behind a hinged bezel with glazed cover. An outer chapter ring displays the days of the week, Sundays picked out in red. Concentric rings carry the date numerals, read by a single blued steel hand. A rectangular aperture at twelve reveals the current month. The date advances automatically every 24 hours; the month requires manual correction at the end of shorter months. This is a full calendar rather than a perpetual one, which is the correct and honest description.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe movement is a Swiss gilt bar lever of approximately 15 jewels with compensation balance and overcoil hairspring: the standard specification of quality Swiss export movements from this era, built to last and regularly found still running well over a century later.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe case is gunmetal with gilt bezels and a gold-tone crown, measuring 53.95mm: substantial and satisfying in the hand, with the weight and presence these double-sided watches carry naturally.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe dial is signed by R. Bonner Thomas, 4 Bank Place, Portmadoc. Thomas was born in Festiniog in 1840 and had operated his Portmadoc shop since approximately 1859, over three decades established in the trade when this watch was retailed. His signature places this watch on a specific street in one of North Wales's principal market towns, distinguishing it from the many unsigned or generically signed examples of the same type.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA proper Victorian complication watch, traceable and honest.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Unsigned (Swiss)","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54269385474387,"sku":"PW-0031","price":685.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1080\/3121\/3907\/files\/CB_03556-front_e91a90d1-5133-4bf9-b3c1-c6718e895f1a.jpg?v=1783717419"},{"product_id":"rockford-17-jewel-nickel-open-face-pocket-watch-usa","title":"Seventeen-Jewel Nickel Open-Face from Rockford, Illinois","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAn American Rockford pocket watch, 17-jewel manual-wind movement in a substantial nickel open-face case with a signed white enamel dial. Sold via Chrono24 before a full condition report was completed - shown here from the sale archive.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis pocket watch was made by the Rockford Watch Company of Rockford, Illinois, one of the well-regarded American manufacturers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Rockford began production in 1876 and continued making watches until the company closed in 1915, building a reputation for solid, well-finished movements aimed at the everyday American market.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis example carries a 17-jewel manual-wind movement, number 797645, with a sub-seconds register and the \"Rockford\" signature in cursive script on the white enamel dial. The dial is laid out with bold black Arabic numerals and a red outer minute track, paired with blued steel spade hands. The case is nickel, open-face, with a finely reeded bezel edge, and measures 59mm across - a substantial size for the type.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis piece was sold via Chrono24 to a buyer in the United States before The Estate Collection's current cataloguing process was completed, so no detailed condition grading exists for it. It is included here as part of the archive of watches that have passed through the collection.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rockford","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54274483716435,"sku":"PW-0048","price":305.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1080\/3121\/3907\/files\/CB_03462-front.jpg?v=1783769041"},{"product_id":"hebdomas-patent-8-day-pocket-watch-visible-escapement-switzerland","title":"Patent Eight-Day, Visible Escapement, Switzerland","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eA Hebdomas \"Patent 8 Days\" pocket watch, its enamel dial set with ruby red numeral medallions around an aperture that shows the balance wheel beating in the open. Sold via Chrono24 before a full condition report was completed.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Hebdomas movement was one of the most distinctive achievements of Swiss watchmaking around the turn of the twentieth century: an 8-day movement, roughly eight times the running time of an ordinary watch, that also exposed part of its balance and escapement through an aperture in the dial so the watch could be seen working. The calibre was patented in 1889 by Irenee Aubry and developed commercially by Arthur Graizely, and went on to win medals at exhibitions across Europe and America.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis example is signed \"Hebdomas Patent, 8 Days, Swiss Made\" on a white enamel dial, with the hour numerals set on individual deep red enamel roundels, flanked by gilt engraved foliate sprays either side of the visible escapement window. Two regulator index marks sit either side of the aperture. Inside, the case back is engraved \"Ancre... Qualite Superieure Garantie\" together with three applied gold medal roundels, matching the documented Hebdomas exhibition wins at Geneva 1896, Paris 1900, Chicago 1902 and Brussels 1910. Since a Brussels 1910 medal is included, this case was finished no earlier than 1910. The case is open-face, nickel or white metal, and measures 47mm across.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSold via Chrono24 to a buyer in Utrecht before The Estate Collection's current cataloguing process was completed, so no detailed condition grading exists for this piece.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hebdomas","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54274483749203,"sku":"PW-0049","price":300.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1080\/3121\/3907\/files\/CB_03479-front.jpg?v=1783769184"},{"product_id":"huguenin-dcp-8-day-goliath-pocket-watch-harvest-relief-caseback-switzerland","title":"Eight-Day Goliath with a Harvest Relief Caseback, Swiss","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eA large Swiss 8-day Goliath pocket watch, its nickel caseback finely relief-engraved with a harvest scene of a horse-drawn hay cart. Sold via Chrono24 before a full condition report was completed.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt just under 66mm across, this is a genuine Goliath-size pocket watch, a substantial format made to be seen and handled rather than a slim dress piece. It is catalogued as Huguenin DCP, an attribution consistent with the Huguenin family workshops of the Swiss Jura, long associated with fine relief and niello case engraving.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe dial is signed \"8 jours \/ 15 Rubis\" (8 days, 15 rubies) in cursive script over a white enamel face with black Roman numerals, blued steel hands, and a small subsidiary register. The movement is an 8-day, manual-wind calibre, again roughly eight times the running duration of an ordinary pocket watch movement.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe case back is the highlight: a detailed relief scene of a harvest in progress, a farmhand pitching sheaves onto a horse-drawn hay cart while another figure works the field behind, all crisply modelled in nickel or white metal relief. It is a substantial, characterful piece of case engraving, giving the watch its \"Harvest Relief\" designation in the collection's records.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSold via Chrono24 to a buyer in Italy before The Estate Collection's current cataloguing process was completed, so no detailed condition grading exists for this piece.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Huguenin DCP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54274484961619,"sku":"PW-0050","price":335.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1080\/3121\/3907\/files\/CB_03547-front.jpg?v=1783769280"},{"product_id":"cartier-paris-londres-18k-gold-ruby-set-pocket-watch-circa-1925","title":"18ct Gold, a Full Baguette Ruby Border, c.1925","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eA signed Cartier dress pocket watch in solid 18k gold, ringed with a full baguette ruby border. Jewellery-grade Cartier from the height of the Art Deco period, and it still runs.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA Cartier evening watch of the mid-1920s, at the scale the house judged right for the job: 31mm of solid 18k gold, slim enough for the pocket of a dinner jacket, wound and set from the pendant. What lifts it beyond the plain gold examples is the caseband: a continuous border of baguette rubies, channel-set the whole way round, every stone present. In the hand the border reads as a thin line of colour; under light it comes alive.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe dial is two-tone silver with an engine-turned centre, stylised Art Deco Arabic numerals and blued Breguet hands with the open ring near the tip, signed Cartier, Paris-Londres. It is original and untouched, carrying light spotting to the centre and around the upper numerals exactly as an unrestored dial of this age should, with the signature still crisp.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCartier in the 1920s was making watches as jewellery and jewellery as watches, and this piece sits precisely on that line: a working lever movement inside a case built like a ring. The movement winds smoothly, sets correctly and runs well. The gold shows the honest scratches of an evening watch that went out often; the rubies show only light surface wear.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGem-set Cartier pocket watches were made in small numbers and tend to stay in collections once they arrive. This one is complete, signed, running and whole.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe marks, the movement and the condition are set out piece by piece in the drawers below; the movement's attribution is set out in The Record.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cartier","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54369705787731,"sku":"PW-0096","price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1080\/3121\/3907\/files\/cartier-18k-yellow-gold-calibre-ruby-set-band-pocket-watch-23_hero.jpg?v=1785325110"},{"product_id":"bovet-fleurier-chinese-market-pocket-watch-sterling-silver-c-1850","title":"Bovet Fleurier Chinese Market Pocket Watch, Sterling Silver, c.1850","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe maker whose name became the word for watch in southern China. A sterling silver Bovet Fleurier built for the Canton trade, complete with its original Chinese shichen dial, and still running today.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1822, Édouard Bovet stepped ashore at Canton with watches to sell, and within a generation his family name had become the everyday Cantonese word for the object itself. The Bovets built the China trade from Fleurier, ran it for four decades, and lost it in the 1860s to the counterfeiting their success invited. This watch was made in the middle of that story, most likely in the 1850s, and it left the Val-de-Travers with one destination in mind.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe dial says so at a glance: two systems share one enamel face, the twelve double-hour characters of the Chinese day around the outside, Western Roman numerals inside them, and the quarter divisions dotted between, read by three blued steel hands, the slender centre seconds sweeping the whole dial in the Chinese-market manner. It is clean, with no chips or hairlines, and behind the original glass it has survived nearly two centuries of use.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOpen the back and the second audience appears. Chinese-market watches were sold as much on their movements as their dials, and this one is fire-gilt, its bridges covered edge to edge in cut decoration, its ruby jewels seated in screwed gold chatons: a mechanism made to be shown.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe case is sterling silver, 55mm, its lion passant mark worn but legible, carrying the handling marks of a long working life without dents or repairs. Winding is by key through the back, with separate arbors for the spring and the hands, and it winds, sets and runs, keeping time.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWatches like this crossed the world under sail. This one still has everything it crossed with: its dial, its engraving, its silver and its mechanism, working.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe marks, the movement and the condition are set out piece by piece in the drawers below; the double-time dial and the retailer's cartouche are set out in The Dial.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bovet","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54429834641747,"sku":"PW-0112","price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1080\/3121\/3907\/files\/bovet-sterling-silver-pocket-watch-1_hero.jpg?v=1785286598"},{"product_id":"self-winding-perpetuelle-platinum-weight-c-1930","title":"Self-Winding Perpétuelle, Platinum Weight, c.1930","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe self-winding watch Breguet invented in the 1780s, built again by the house itself a century and a half later. An 18ct gold Perpétuelle with a platinum winding weight, its running reserve read off the dial.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn open-face watch in 18ct gold, 48.34mm across and 91.1 grams in the hand, engine-turned across the bezel, the band and the hinged back that lifts to the movement, the back worked around a plain polished cartouche, with the pendant and bow left in polished gold. It is a Perpétuelle, a watch that winds itself from the motion of being carried, and that word is the whole story.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSelf-winding was Abraham-Louis Breguet's founding trick, the invention that made his name in Paris in the 1780s, and for most of a century afterwards the house let it rest. Then, in 1921, Sir David Salomons published his monograph on Breguet and reminded the world, and the firm itself, of what the old man had actually done. In the years that followed, the house answered with a small run of new Perpétuelles built in honour of its own beginning, and this is one of them: No. 2176, made around 1930, bracketed in the series by No. 1648 of 1928 and No. 2492 of 1932. The movements for the run came from Les Fils de V. Piguet in the Vallée de Joux, then trusted with the most demanding complicated work in Switzerland.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe silvered dial is guilloché throughout, worked in a tighter weave at the centre than the case carries, with a plain satin band holding the Roman hours and a beaded minute track just inside it. Hours and minutes sit a little high of centre, read by blued steel hands in the moon-tipped Breguet pattern, and beneath them a separately pivoted hand sweeps an arc graduated to fifty, showing how much running reserve the motion of the day has stored. A subsidiary seconds turns in its own guilloché ring at six.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn the other side of the hinged back, the self-winding weight rides on its own pivot at the top of the movement, and it is cut in platinum: the densest metal for the job, on a watch whose whole purpose is that weight's quiet travel. It winds and sets correctly from the gold pendant crown, and it runs well.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe house's own registers know this watch: sold new on the 21st of February 1933 to a Monsieur Lenoir, for 10,000 francs. It has come through the ninety years since complete, matching and original, the number struck on caseback, cuvette and movement, and the caseback's central cartouche, the panel left for an owner's monogram, never engraved.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe marks, the movement and the condition are set out piece by piece in the drawers below; the register entry, confirmed by the house, is set out in The Archive.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Breguet","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54616485462355,"sku":"PW-0140","price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1080\/3121\/3907\/files\/breguet-18ct-gold-pocket-watch-1_hero_bdbd71ed-a2e9-407e-8110-12060fd509dc.jpg?v=1787071824"}],"url":"https:\/\/estatecollection.nl\/collections\/sold-archive.oembed","provider":"The Estate Collection","version":"1.0","type":"link"}