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Jean Baptiste Baillon III Paris court clockmaker carriage clock repitition ca. 1740

Jean Baptiste Baillon III Paris court clockmaker carriage clock repitition ca. 1740

Regular price €6.995,00 EUR
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Extremely rare, museum-worthy artifact of the art of watchmaking by one of its absolute masters: carriage clock with repetition by the court watchmaker of the legendary French Queen Marie Antoinette: Jean Baptiste Baillon III

The term "repetition" describes the extremely rare, innovative function for the era, that the time or its hourly strike can be recalled at any time - especially at night when traveling - by means of a thread that leads out of the case.

Jean Baptiste Baillon was a French master watchmaker and court watchmaker to the French royal family, and the most successful and well-known member of the legendary Baillon watchmaking dynasty. Each of his surviving artifacts represents a piece of watchmaking history.

Originals by Jean Baptiste Baillon II can be seen in the most important museums in the world: the Louvre in Paris, the Metropolitan Museum in New York or the Palace of Versailles

An admittedly more magnificent and elaborate "elephant clock" was sold in recent years by the Bergmann auction house in Erlangen for 25,000 euros, a verge pocket watch from 1740 with movement number 785 in May 2019 for 13,800 euros (final price including sales commission approx. 18,000 euros).

Solid octagonal brass case, case diameter a mighty 10.5cm

Silver dial with engraved and blackened Roman numerals, circumferential gilt Kyma relief band, hour and minute, gilt Louis XV hands

Gold-plated full plate movement (original movement number: 2287) with finely crafted verge bridge and repeating hour chime function via thread. Movement inscribed and signed J BAPTISTE BAILLON PARIS

Sound spiral with thread pull for repetition of the strike around the movement, winding key enclosed

The spindle mechanism of the museum artifact runs when wound up using the supplied key (accuracy not tested), hourly chime and its retrieval by thread not tested

A unique artifact in watch history, which probably only comes onto the market once in a decade and is fully signed and functional

Baillon, Jean Baptiste

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Baillon, Jean Baptist

Jean Baptiste III Baillon (died 1772) was one of the most skilled and innovative watchmakers of his time. His success was largely based on his ability to establish a large and thriving private factory in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, unique in the 18th-century watchmaking industry. Baillon's father, Jean-Baptiste II (died 1757), a Parisian maître, and his grandfather, Jean-Baptiste I of Rouen, were both watchmakers, as was his own son, Jean-Baptiste IV Baillon (1752–c. 1773). Baillon himself was admitted to the guild as a "maître-horloger" in 1727. In 1738, he received his first important appointment: Valet de Chambre-Horloger Ordinaire de la Reine. He was subsequently appointed First Valet of the Queen's Chamber before 1748, and then First Valet of the Chamber and Valet of the Chamber-Watchmaker Ordinary of the Dauphine to Marie-Antoinette in 1770. In keeping with his position, he settled in the Place Dauphine in 1738 and in the Rue Dauphine in 1751.

Thanks to his success, Jean-Baptiste Baillon amassed an enormous fortune, valued at 384,000 livres at the time of his death on April 8, 1772. Today, Baillon's works can be admired in some of the most prestigious collections in the world, including the Musée du Louvre in Paris, the Palace of Versailles, the New Palace in Bayreuth, and the Metropolitan Museum in New York. Baillon, Jean Baptiste III


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