Piguet & Meylan

• gilt cylinder movement, pinned disc music, gold cuvette with blue foliate enamel design • white enamel dial, center seconds • reverse with translucent blue enamel ground over guilloché centered by a miniature portrait of lady depicting the Allegory of Spring attributed to Jean-Abraham Lissiognol (1749-1819), bezels set with seed pearls, band, pendant and bow set with tones of blue and red enamel, band further fitted with a slide for stop/start • movement stamped PM for Piguet & Meylan, case stamped FO for Frères Oltramere

A La Vieille Russie, New York, 1997.

Exhibition catalogue: Uncommon Watches and Clocks, Snellenburg, J., pp. 8-9.

The movement will run but will require service. However, it is complete. The music is working. There is some pitting to the levers on the music bridges. The cuvette has surface wear and the enamel is generally good with only very minor losses to the stringing. The enamel panel is in lovely condition and shows only the slightest scuffing. It was obviously executed by the highest quality enameler, such as Lissognol, as suggested in the note.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. All dimensions in catalogue descriptions are approximate. Condition reports may not specify mechanical replacements or imperfections to the movement, case, dial, pendulum, separate base(s) or dome. Watches in water-resistant cases have been opened to examine movements but no warranties are made that the watches are currently water-resistant. Please note that we do not guarantee the authenticity of any individual component parts, such as wheels, hands, crowns, crystals, screws, bracelets and leather bands, since subsequent repairs and restoration work may have resulted in the replacement of original parts. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue. In particular, please note it is the purchaser's responsibility to comply with any applicable import and export matters, particularly in relation to lots incorporating materials from endangered species.NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

**Please be advised that bands made of materials derived from endangered or otherwise protected species (i.e. alligator and crocodile) are not sold with the watches and are for display purposes only. We reserve the right to remove these bands prior to shipping.

Important Notice regarding importation into the United States of Rolex watches
Sotheby's cannot arrange for the delivery of Rolex watches to the United States because U.S. laws restricts the import of Rolex watches. The buyer or a designated agent may collect the property in the country of sale."

Two similar watches, the Piguet & Meylan 'Allegory of Summer' and 'Allegory of Autumn' have been sold by Sotheby's in recent years. The first was sold in Geneva on 13 November 2007 for CHF 505,000, and the second in Hong Kong on 7 October 2009 for 2,180,000 HKD. A watch from the same series which bears the 'Allegory of Winter' is also in the Patek Philippe Museum, Geneva.

A similar watch from the same series is described and illustrated in Chapuis, A, Montres et Émaux de Genève, Collection H. Wilsdorf, Rolex, 1944, pp.207-209 & pl.41.

The firm Piguet & Meylan was formed by Isaac-Daniel Piguet and Philippe Samuel Meylan in 1811. Piguet was born at Le Chenet in 1775. He settled in Geneva and became Burgher in 1812, one year after he had gone into partnership with Philippe Samuel Meylan to undertake the 'manufacture of watches, jewellery and mechanisms of all kinds.' Piguet specialized in complex watches with carillons and clock watches. Meylan was born in le Brassus in 1772 and is credited with adapting 'tongues of sonorous metal for the combs of musical movement suitable for watches and other small objects. He is responsible for the famous magician automaton boxes and barking dog automaton watches.'

Piguet & Meylan are particularly known for their watches made for the Chinese Market. As such, decoration was very important to the creation of all their pieces, and they employed some of the best enamel painters to decorate their watches. Examples of their works can be seen in many of the world's foremost collections, including the Patek Philippe Museum, Geneva, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Musée d'Horlogerie, Locle.

Jean-Abraham Lissignol (1749-1819), known as Pére Lissignol to distinguish him from his son Abraham, also an enameller in Geneva, was trained by Jean-Marc Roux. As well as painting portrait miniatures, he supplied the Fabrique with plaques for snuff boxes and watch cases. He appears to have specialised in allegorical subjects. In 1806, Père Lissignol wrote eloquently to the Paris authorities (Geneva then being occupied by France) suggesting that the Imperial Court buy enamelled trinkets to encourage the failing trade in Geneva, just as they had bought Lyons silk to help that market recover (Geneva archives).

Brothers Louis-David-Benjamin Oltramare, born 30 August 1781 and Jean-Hugues Oltramare, born 2 February 1786, were both trained as 'monteurs de boîtes en or' (makers of gold watch cases). Coming from a family of artisans with a horological background, they worked together in an informal association and entered a maker's mark as the Frères Oltramare in 1810/11. When Geneva was liberated from French occupation and they re-registered the same mark on 4 November 1815, their workshop was at rue de Coutance 82. The association was dissolved on 31 March 1826.