Cartier - The Hong Kong Watch Auction: TWO Hong Kong Monday, May 30, 2016 | Phillips

Create your first list.

Select an existing list or create a new list to share and manage lots you follow.

  • Manufacturer: Cartier
    Year: Circa 1915
    Reference No: With Cartier hand stamped reference number 1'426
    Material: Yellow gold, nephrite, sapphires and diamonds
    Dimensions: 95 mm width and 74 mm. high
    Signed: Dial signed, case numbered
    Accessories: With original Cartier fitted presentation box.
    Literature: For a similar nephrite clock with molded edges and coral cabochons on the corners, please see The Cartier Collection by Flammarion, page 247.

  • Catalogue Essay

    This clock, manufactured by Cartier to the highest standard, is made from a nephrite hardstone. The dial is an incredible guilloché enamel and the hands are set with diamonds. The clock is also decorated with millegrain gold work and sapphire gemstones. Remarkably, the clock still retains its original fitted presentation box.

    It is well documented that Cartier was heavily influenced by Fabergé in the beginning of the 20th century. The construction of this clock is very much in the Russian Fabergé style, evident by the use of hardstone, gemstones, millegrain work and the lovely and unusual opalescent fluorescent enamel dial. The manufacture of these dials requires an additional heat process that generate the opalescent effect, which is incredibly difficult to achieve. A Cartier clock with opalescent dial can be found on the Paris City Council gifts, which they had Cartier commissioned for Nicolas Nzar II, which was an incredible nephrite, gold and opalescent enamel Imperial egg.

    In excellent overall condition, the present lot illustrates Louis Cartier's desire to control the Russian market at a time when the imperial court and Tzar Nicholas II were incredibly powerful clients.

  • Artist Biography

    Cartier

    French

    With the Constitution of 1848 came a new standard for luxury in France. Founded one year prior by Louis-Francois Cartier, the house of Cartier was one of the first to use platinum in jewelry making. This incredibly expensive material became the stepping-stone for Cartier to experiment in form, mechanisms and attitude. It helped men move from pocket watches to wristwatches, effectively making the watch much more functional and prominent in a man's overall wardrobe.

    Cartier did not only touch on functionality. Inspired by a commissioned painting by George Barbier featuring a black panther at the feet of an elegantly bejeweled woman, Cartier began incorporating wild animals in his designs—most notably, Cartier Panthère rings, bangle bracelets and watches. Yet it wasn't until the late 1960s that the house of Cartier debuted their iconic yellow and rose gold LOVE collection, which includes the famous bracelet that only a special screwdriver can open. 

    View More Works

342

Ref. With Cartier hand stamped reference number 1'426
A very fine and rare yellow gold, nephrite, sapphire and diamond-set desk clock with opalescent fluorescent enamel dial and original fitted presentation box

Circa 1915
95 mm width and 74 mm. high
Dial signed, case numbered

Estimate
HK$240,000 - 400,000 

Contact Specialist

Thomas Perazzi
Head of Watches, Asia
+852 2318 2001
thomasperazzi@phillips.com

Ziyong Ho
Specialist
+852 9386 2032
ziyongho@phillips.com

Jill Chen
Specialist
+852 2318 2033
jillchen@phillips.com

The Hong Kong Watch Auction: TWO

Hong Kong Auction 31 May 2016