.jpg?w=1)
拍品专文
With short length of 14K gold chain.
According to the Archives of Vacheron Constantin, the present scarab-form watch was manufactured in 1910.
Scarab-form watches made by Vacheron Constantin are exceedingly rare. The appeal of the present, highly attractive example is further enhanced by its very good overall condition. For a black and white archival image of another scarab-watch pendant watch dating from 1910 see The World of Vacheron Constantin Genève by Carole Lambelet/Lorette Coen, p. 326, pl. 1819 & 1819.
Beetle or scarab-form watches were highly fashionable in China in the 19th and early 20th centuries. A scarab-watch signed Vacheron Constantin is illustrated in The Chinese Watch by Alfred Chapuis, chapter "Jewelled Watches", p. 233, pl. 218. Two scarab-watches are described and illustrated in Timepieces, The Forbidden City Publishing House, pp. 282 & 283. The tome comprises a selection of timepieces in Beijing's Palace Museum which owns one of the largest collections of mechanical timepieces of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries in the world, comprising over 1,000 pieces. The collection contains both Chinese and foreign-made watches, clocks and automatons. Chinese exhibits came from the Palace's own workshops, Guangzhou (Canton) and Suzhou (Suchow). Watches made abroad include manufacturers from Britain, France, Switzerland, the United States and Japan.
Notable items in the collection include a clock with automaton which is able to write, with a miniature writing brush on inserted paper, an auspicious couplet in perfect Chinese calligraphy.
According to the Archives of Vacheron Constantin, the present scarab-form watch was manufactured in 1910.
Scarab-form watches made by Vacheron Constantin are exceedingly rare. The appeal of the present, highly attractive example is further enhanced by its very good overall condition. For a black and white archival image of another scarab-watch pendant watch dating from 1910 see The World of Vacheron Constantin Genève by Carole Lambelet/Lorette Coen, p. 326, pl. 1819 & 1819.
Beetle or scarab-form watches were highly fashionable in China in the 19th and early 20th centuries. A scarab-watch signed Vacheron Constantin is illustrated in The Chinese Watch by Alfred Chapuis, chapter "Jewelled Watches", p. 233, pl. 218. Two scarab-watches are described and illustrated in Timepieces, The Forbidden City Publishing House, pp. 282 & 283. The tome comprises a selection of timepieces in Beijing's Palace Museum which owns one of the largest collections of mechanical timepieces of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries in the world, comprising over 1,000 pieces. The collection contains both Chinese and foreign-made watches, clocks and automatons. Chinese exhibits came from the Palace's own workshops, Guangzhou (Canton) and Suzhou (Suchow). Watches made abroad include manufacturers from Britain, France, Switzerland, the United States and Japan.
Notable items in the collection include a clock with automaton which is able to write, with a miniature writing brush on inserted paper, an auspicious couplet in perfect Chinese calligraphy.