Louis Audemars. A fine and rare 18K gold openface two train independent dead centre seconds keyless lever watch with original box

SIGNED LS. AUDEMARS, BRASSUS & GENÈVE, NO. 11924, CIRCA 1872

Details

Louis Audemars. A fine and rare 18K gold openface two train independent dead centre seconds keyless lever watch with original box
Signed Ls. Audemars, Brassus & Genève, No. 11924, circa 1872
Cal. 19''' gilt-finished tandem-wound two train lever movement, 35 jewels, bimetallic compensation balance, gold cuvette, white enamel dial, Roman numerals, independent centre seconds, circular case, engine-turned back with engraved initials, case numbered 11924, stamped with Louis Audemars' hallmarks and MF for Meylan Frères, cuvette signed and numbered, movement signed
50.5 mm. diam.

Provenance

Purchased by the present owner at the The Private Collection of Theodor Beyer auction, Antiquorum Geneva, 16 November 2003, lot 77.

Theodor Beyer
As the sixth-generation owner of one of the world's leading watch retailers, Theodor Beyer was among the foremost figures on the international watch scene during the second half of the twentieth century. He was a broadly recognized scholar, an avid collector and brought together an exquisite range of timepieces that was to become the basis of the Clock and Watch Museum Beyer Zürich set up in 1970/71.

Born in 1926 into a family of watch dealers and watchmakers whose business has existed since 1760, Theodor was exposed to the world of horology from an early age. After training as a watchmaker in Solothurn, Switzerland and subsequently working for the Henry Stern Watch Agency in New York, the twenty-one-year-old Theodor joined the family business, Chronometrie Beyer, in 1947. Just eight years later upon the passing of his mother, he took charge of the firm, which has occupied the same building at Bahnhofstrasse 31 for more than eighty years.

Theodor steered the family business through a period of transition in the watch industry when a shift in consumer tastes meant less demand for traditional pocket watches. Despite that change in the market, the firm prospered over time and Theodor enjoyed close ties and personal friendships with many of the figures behind the Swiss watch industry, including Hans Wilsdorf, the founder of Rolex, and the Stern family, owners of Patek Philippe. He also travelled widely to auctions over the years and continued to expand his collection of timepieces. He passed away in 2002. The business is now run by his son René Beyer.

Literature

Prominently illustrated and described in Louis-Benjamin Audemars - His Life and Work by Hartmut Zantke, p. 455, pl. 120.

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Lot Essay

With Louis Audemars original fitted mahogany presentation box no. 11924, the cover with inlaid initials FT, containing a spare mainspring and crystal. Furthermore delivered with Louis Audemars colour copy from the "Register of Superior Watches" and Certificate confirming that watch no. 11924 was one of three openface watches (11922-3-4) production of which started on 4th October 1872. The watches are described as stem wound, 19 lignes diameter (51mm), stem wound with independent centre seconds and anchor escapements.
The movement of 11924 was regulated and passed by Léopold Piguet on 25th June 1874, the case was supplied in 1875 by Meylan Frères. The final production cost of all three watches was Frs 2327.35. 11924 incurred extra charges of Frs 35.00 for an "arret" on the winding crown and Frs 12.00 for extra decoration of the case - presumably the initials to the case back. 11924 was shipped on 5th April 1876 to a customer named Roth.

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