.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The present watch is a very fine example of a complicated timepiece made by Louis Audemars for his faithful client, the renowned Horloger de la Marine Charles Oudin in Paris, 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 coat-of-arms on the present watch are those of two important Spanish noble families: the De La Cerda family, Dukes of Medinaceli, Spain, featuring an ermine lined peer's mantle, and the Ponce De León family represented by a rampant lion and vertical stripes. When two Spanish families were united by marriage, usually a new coat-of-arms was created. In the present case however the family crests were added to the two sides of the watch. Only one marriage between the two families is known, held on 25 May 1802 between Louis Joaquim Fernandez de Cordoba Figueroa de la Cerda (1780-1840), 14th Duke of Medinaceli, Order of the Grand Cross of Charles III, and Maria de la Conception Ponce de Léon (1783-1856), second daughter of Antonio Maria Ponce de Léon, 4th Duke of Montemar. The only descendant of the alliance and hence the possible owner of the present watch was Luis Tomás de Villanueva Fernández de Córdoba Figueroa y Ponce de Léon (1813-1873), 15th Duke of Medinaceli, High Seneschal of Aragon, Order of the Grand Cross of Charles III in 1846, Golden Fleece in 1864.
The coat-of-arms on the present watch are those of two important Spanish noble families: the De La Cerda family, Dukes of Medinaceli, Spain, featuring an ermine lined peer's mantle, and the Ponce De León family represented by a rampant lion and vertical stripes. When two Spanish families were united by marriage, usually a new coat-of-arms was created. In the present case however the family crests were added to the two sides of the watch. Only one marriage between the two families is known, held on 25 May 1802 between Louis Joaquim Fernandez de Cordoba Figueroa de la Cerda (1780-1840), 14th Duke of Medinaceli, Order of the Grand Cross of Charles III, and Maria de la Conception Ponce de Léon (1783-1856), second daughter of Antonio Maria Ponce de Léon, 4th Duke of Montemar. The only descendant of the alliance and hence the possible owner of the present watch was Luis Tomás de Villanueva Fernández de Córdoba Figueroa y Ponce de Léon (1813-1873), 15th Duke of Medinaceli, High Seneschal of Aragon, Order of the Grand Cross of Charles III in 1846, Golden Fleece in 1864.