Chopard - The Hong Kong Watch Auction: TWO Hong Kong Monday, May 30, 2016 | Phillips
  • Manufacturer: Chopard
    Year: 1997
    Reference No: 16/2254/413
    Case No: 415'975
    Model Name: Automaton Polo Player
    Material: 18k yellow gold and lapis lazuli
    Calibre: Automatic, P71, 25 jewels
    Bracelet/Strap: Brown Chopard crocodile leather strap
    Clasp/Buckle: 18k yellow gold Chopard buckle
    Dimensions: 36.5 mm. width
    Signed: Case, dial and movement signed

  • Catalogue Essay

    The present watch is set with lapis lazuli dial and the reverse with a three-coloured gold scene depicting a horse polo game against a lapis lazuli starry sky. The automata is activated through a button in the crown and the player scores with a long-handled mallet on the horseback in action. Offered in well preserved condition, the present unique watch is finished with exquisite craftsmanship.

  • Artist Biography

    Chopard

    Swiss • 1860

    At the age of 24, Louis-Ulysse Chopard started his company L.U.C. Chopard in Sonviller, Switzerland. Since the brand's inception in 1860, Chopard understood the need for thin and accurate pocket watches to be functional for daily wear. The brand gained world recognition in 1912 after Tsar Nicolas II became a client.

    Following Louis-Ulysse's death in 1915, his sons Paul-Louis and Paul André took over the business and moved their headquarters to La Chaux-de-Fonds. In 1963, the company was taken over by Karl Scheufele, who remains the brand's owner. Arguably Chopard's most recognizable design, the "Happy" line, was inspired by Scheufele's daughter Caroline. In 1996, his son Karl-Friedrich established Chopard as a manufacturer of its own range of in-house movements under the name L.U.C., creating groundbreaking, exquisitely finished watches that have earned the brand worldwide acclaim.

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Σ259

Ref. 16/2254/413
A fine and unique yellow gold tonneau-shaped wristwatch with concealed automata of a man playing polo and lapis lazuli dial

1997
36.5 mm. width
Case, dial and movement signed

Estimate
HK$200,000 - 280,000 

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The Hong Kong Watch Auction: TWO

Hong Kong Auction 31 May 2016