Gold Repeating Watch no. 558

Case: Dial: Movement: Provenance: 18?? - Capt, Geneve 2013 - Dr Crott auction, 11 May 2013, est Eur100-150,000, "An important Geneva quarter repeating gold-enamel pocket watch with musical movement and 3 automatons Case: 18k gold, polished, reeded band, pusher for repetition via pendant, case maker's punch mark "ID". Dial: enamel, automatons "á quatre couleurs", depiction of a young man playing a lute and a lady playing a harp, on the left side two courting pigeons; polychrome enamelled background depicting an alpine landscape with a lake and houses, on the left a putto sitting on a fountain; peripheral gold engine-turned dial with Arabic numerals, blued Breguet hands. Movm.: full plate movement, firegilt, florally engraved, 2 hammers / 2 gongs, cylinder escapement, three-arm brass balance, pierced balance bridge, chatoned diamond endstone on balance, musical movement with tuned vibrating blades. Henry Capt (1773 - 1841) Capt was anindependent watchmaker who specialised in watches with additional functions such as musical watches and automatons; Capt was one of the first in Geneva to use barrels and crowns in his automatons. Born in Chenit in the Vallée de Joux in April 1773, he was the son of Jaques Samuel Capt and Susanne Piguet. On January 1, 1796, he married Henriette Piguet. Around 1789 Capt settled in Geneva and worked for several renowned companies such as Jaquet-Droz, Godet, Leschot and his brother-in-law Isaac Daniel Piguet. In 1802 he went into partnership with Daniel Isaac Piguet, which lasted until 1811. When this partnership ended, Capt kept producing his own pieces for some time before entering another partnership with Aubert et Fils in 1830. Capt's son Henry continued the business and won first prizes of the Geneva Observatory in 1878 and 1879; in 1882 he won the first prize for a palladium spring."