.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
拍品专文
This exquisite rock crystal pendant watch is a very attractive example of a seventeenth century crucifix form-watch. Seldom seen at auction, crucifix watches are represented in several of the world’s great museum collections. The present watch had for many years resided in one of the world’s best collections of watches, owned by Lord Sandberg CBE (1927-2017), former chairman of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank. His collection was sold in a landmark auction in Geneva in 2001.
In keeping with the crucifix-form case, the decoration of the lower part of the dial plate is engraved with a scene of Christ on the cross accompanied by Mary and Mary Magdalene, the arms are engraved with the tools and implements of crucifixion. From the style of the set-up and the balance cock secured by a screw rather than being pinned, the present watch can be dated to around the middle to third quarter of the seventeenth century but naturally before the invention of the balance spring in the 1670s.
Crucifix form watches
Following the ‘Ordonnances somptuaires’ introduced by the reformer Jean Calvin in 1558, the new rules for goldsmiths implemented in 1566 forbade the manufacture of "crosses, chalices or other instruments serving the papacy or the idolatry". Nevertheless the clandestine distribution of these very popular watches continued until things were eased a few decades later and goldsmiths, enamellers and watchmakers of Geneva could again officially make crucifix form watches, sometimes called ‘montre d'abbesse’. These watches were generally fitted with a dial decorated with motifs from the passion and crucifixion and rock crystal covers.
In keeping with the crucifix-form case, the decoration of the lower part of the dial plate is engraved with a scene of Christ on the cross accompanied by Mary and Mary Magdalene, the arms are engraved with the tools and implements of crucifixion. From the style of the set-up and the balance cock secured by a screw rather than being pinned, the present watch can be dated to around the middle to third quarter of the seventeenth century but naturally before the invention of the balance spring in the 1670s.
Crucifix form watches
Following the ‘Ordonnances somptuaires’ introduced by the reformer Jean Calvin in 1558, the new rules for goldsmiths implemented in 1566 forbade the manufacture of "crosses, chalices or other instruments serving the papacy or the idolatry". Nevertheless the clandestine distribution of these very popular watches continued until things were eased a few decades later and goldsmiths, enamellers and watchmakers of Geneva could again officially make crucifix form watches, sometimes called ‘montre d'abbesse’. These watches were generally fitted with a dial decorated with motifs from the passion and crucifixion and rock crystal covers.