BEGIN:VCALENDAR PRODID:-//eluceo/ical//2.0/EN VERSION:2.0 CALSCALE:GREGORIAN BEGIN:VEVENT UID:d498d378b1051264e21b24c81a2d9a1c DTSTAMP:20260404T075212Z SUMMARY:an-exceptionally-rare-and-very-fine-and-small-20ct-gold-open-faced- half-quarter-repeating-calendar-watch-with-moon-phases-and-double-wheel-du plex-escapement - Date de vente : 09/11/2025 DESCRIPTION:Nom du lots : An exceptionally rare and very fine and small 20c t gold open-faced half-quarter repeating calendar watch with moon phases a nd double wheel duplex escapement\n\n14.5’’’ gilded movement\, large mainspring barrel\, double wheel duplex escapement with ruby impulse pall ets and ruby resting roller\, bi-metallic compensation balance with 22 pla tinum screws\, parachute suspension on both pivots\, flat blued steel bala nce spring\, polished steel hammer striking smaller intermediary hammer to repeat on coiled gong\, repeating racks\, calendar work and blued steel r egulation extension arm mounted to bottom plate\, bottom plate numbered 47 30 (4 obscured)\n\nsilvered dial\, vertical Roman numerals\, outer minute ring\, two recessed subsidiary dials for date and day advancing counterclo ckwise\, aperture for regulation between\, aperture for moon phases above 6 o’clock\, gold Breguet hands\, signed and numbered Breguet Neveu et Cn ie\n\n20ct gold Joly case\, case back\, bezel and band engine-turned à gr ains d’orge\, small monogrammed cartouche to centre engraved NR\, quarte r-turn piston for repeat between 1 and 2 o’clock\, slide between 10 and 11 o’clock for revealing female winding square to case back\, recessed p ushers to band for calendar/moon adjustment marked M\, L\, S\, plain ring pendant\, case back numbered 4730 B and 685\, case maker’s mark LJ with a bird and pellet in lozenge cartouche for Joly\, Paris assay Pegasus 2 in hexagonal cartouche (2nd standard gold 840/1000\, 1819-1838)\, pendant wi th Paris ox head assay mark in circular cartouche (1822-1838)\n\nMeasureme nts\n\ndiameter 36.5mm\n\ndepth 7.5mm\n\nweight 34.7g\n\nAccompaniments\n\ nWith Breguet certificate no. 4428 and a double-ended male/female Breguet ratchet key and a Breguet 250th anniversary certificate\n\nPhillips\, Hong Kong\, December 2015\, Lot 320\n\nBreguet himself made only very limited use of the duplex escapement\, a system more commonly associated with Engl ish watchmaking and later for Swiss watches made for the Chinese market. A dmired for the freedom it gave to the balance — imparting an impulse on every other vibration and leaving the remainder of the arc virtually untou ched — it demanded exceptional precision\, as the locking depths were ex tremely fine. Although made after the death of Abraham-Louis\, the present watch nevertheless reflects the master’s enduring influence.\n\nWhat ma kes this example especially remarkable is its slender form: just 8 mm thic k including the crystal (6.2 mm without) and a compact diameter of only 36 .5 mm\, a dimension modest even by the standards of a modern wristwatch. T he duplex was generally reserved for thicker watches\, as its construction demanded greater depth\, yet here the Breguet workshop succeeded in incor porating the mechanism into an unusually slim design — made all the more impressive by the addition of repeating and calendar work beneath the dia l.\n\nThe attention to detail is equally distinguished\, with a series of refined features: a discreet slide beside the pendant that shutters the wi nding aperture on the case back\, and special adjusters seamlessly integra ted into the sides of the case\, enabling convenient manual correction of the calendar and moon phases when required. Together\, these elements demo nstrate the technical ambition and aesthetic sophistication that defined B reguet’s output\, even in the hands of his successors.\n\nThe Breguet Ar chives record that this watch was sold on 31 December 1829 to Princess Bag ration as a present for Colonel Cradock [Caradoc]. At the time serving as British ambassador in Paris\, Cradock married Princess Bagration only days later\, on 11 January 1830\, suggesting the watch may have been a wedding gift. The marriage was not a success and the pair soon separated. Indeed\ , the Archives note that this watch was bought back by Breguet on 29 Decem ber 1830 for Fr. 3\,600 and refurbished. During the refurbishing\, the Arc hives note that a new case was made for the watch by Joly whose maker’s mark can be found inside the back. The original case by Tavernier was numb ered 4200 and the new Joly case was numbered 685 and stamped accordingly\, together with its corresponding Breguet number B 4730. Following the refu rbishment\, the watch was sold on 29 December 1835 to Nathaniel de Rothsch ild for Fr. 4\,000.\n\nJohn Hobart Cradock 1799-1873\n\nJohn Hobart Cradoc k [Caradoc] (the family name was later changed by his father to Caradoc)\, 2nd Baron Howden (1799–1873)\, only son of John Francis Cradock\, 1st B aron Howden\, was educated at Eton and began his career as an officer in t he Grenadier Guards. He was appointed aide-de-camp to the Duke of Wellingt on in Paris after Waterloo\, remaining with him until the dispersal of the army of occupation in 1818. Renowned for his striking good looks\, he bec ame known in society as “Beauty Caradoc\,” a reputation underlined by a succession of romantic entanglements. In Paris he notoriously fought a d uel over the Duchesse d’Esclaux\, and his liaison with Emily Cowper (lat er Lady Palmerston\, the future wife of the Prime Minister) was equally we ll known.\n\nCaradoc entered the diplomatic service in the 1820s\, serving at Berlin and Paris and on missions in Egypt\, Greece\, and Spain. He was wounded at Navarino (1827) and again at Antwerp (1832). The conspicuous i njury he sustained at Antwerp\, which obliged him to wear a ribboned sleev e\, gave rise to a Parisian fashion known as the manche à la Caradoc\, in which women imitated the effect with ribboned or slashed sleeves.\n\nOn 1 1 January 1830 Caradoc married Princess Catherine Bagration (1783–1857)\ , born Countess Skavronskaya and widow of Prince Pyotr Bagration\, the cel ebrated Russian general killed at Borodino. Known throughout Europe as “ the Naked Angel” for her beauty and diaphanous gowns\, Princess Bagratio n was a central figure in Napoleonic and post-Napoleonic society. Her salo ns in Vienna and later in Paris attracted leading statesmen\, generals\, a nd writers\, and her relationships with Metternich\, Tsar Alexander I\, an d others made her one of the most talked-about women of her age. Although the marriage produced no children and ended in separation\, it firmly link ed Caradoc to one of the most brilliant and cosmopolitan figures of the er a.\n\nCaradoc succeeded as 2nd Baron Howden in 1839 upon the death of his father and pursued a successful diplomatic career\, serving as British min ister at Rio de Janeiro and later at Madrid\, where he was highly regarded . Promoted lieutenant-general in 1859\, he retired to his estate near Bayo nne\, where he died in 1873.1\n\nNathaniel de Rothschild (1812-1870)\n\nNa thaniel de Rothschild\, Baron de Rothschild (1812–1870)\, was the third son of Nathan and Hannah Rothschild of the London branch of the famous ban king family. He eventually pursued his career in the Paris house of the ba nking dynasty\, settling in Paris from 1840. In 1842 Nathaniel married his cousin Charlotte\, daughter of James de Rothschild. In 1853 he acquired t he Bordeaux vineyards that became Château Mouton Rothschild\, establishin g a name that endures as one of the world’s great wines\, and a few year s later purchased 33 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. Nathaniel died in Pari s in 1870 and was buried in the Rothschild family vault at Père Lachaise. 2\n\n1 Stephens\, H.\, & Matthew\, H.  (2008\, January 03). Caradoc [f ormerly Cradock]\, John Hobart\, second Baron Howden (1799–1873)\, diplo mat. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography  https://doi.org/10.1093/re f:odnb/4603\n\n2 Gray\, V.\, & Aspey\, M.  (2015\, May 28). Rothschild \, Nathan Mayer (1777–1836)\, merchant and financier. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/24162 DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251109 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR