Spotlighting the highlights at Auktionen Dr. H. Crott

Spotlighting the highlights at Auktionen Dr. H. Crott

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Auktionen Dr. H. Crott

Musical gold enamel box with bells was heavily sought after was a box created by John Rich of Geneva with enamel painting attributed to Jean-Louis Richter

Mannheim, May 26th, 2009

During his 79th auction Stefan Muser proved yet again his talent for arranging a varied range of carefully chosen pieces of exceptional quality, keeping even his most demanding clients intrigued. The auction included the usual wide palette of modern and vintage wristwatches, precision pocket watches, enamel watches and precision regulators.

As in the previous auction Auktionen Dr. H. Crott was again able to present a small but exquisite collection of enamel boxes which fascinated the numerous collectors, dealers and museum representatives. Especially an important and very rare musical gold enamel box with bells was heavily sought after; lot no. 359 was a box created by John Rich of Geneva with enamel painting attributed to Jean-Louis Richter and went to its new owner for 76,000 Euros.

Another highlight was the very fine and exceptionally rare Dresden gold-mounted agate snuff box with porcelain applications titled "Poetry" (lot no. 372), which sold for 41,500 Euros.

It was not really a surprise that the highest bid of the pocket watches was once more achieved by a Lange & Soehne pocket watch, with lot no. 229. The very fine and extremely rare and complicated Glashuette hunting case watch equipped with minute repetition, chronograph and 30 min. counter in a Louis XV case and with Lange extract of the archives changed ownership for 122,000 Euros after a fierce bidding war.

Of course many other Glashuette pocket watches also reached exceptional prices, for example lot no. 510, a very fine gold enamel pocket watch of museum quality Ilbery created for the Chinese market, with magnificent enamel painting by Victor Dupont "Ulysses bids farewell to Nausicaa" (74,000 Euros), or the important heavy precision hunting case watch with Perregaux three bridge movement and box (lot no. 448), which reached a sum of 71,000 Euros.

Highly sought after as well were the wristwatches of the finest quality, e.g. lot no. 162, a gent's prestigious and as new astronomical self-winding Geneva wristwatch by Patek Philippe, with perpetual calendar and leap year indication, moon phase and minute repetition ref. 3974, which was sold for 232,000 Euros. Lot no. 91 was a Radiomir Panerai/Rolex Oyster Watch Co. circa 1945 - this extremely rare diver's wristwatch of the Deutsche Kriegsmarine "Einsatzgruppe Heyden" was claimed for 41,500 Euros.

Lot no. 172, an International Watch Co. gent's very rare self-winding wristwatch with minute repetition, perpetual calendar and moon phase, is no. 11 of a limited edition of 50 watches and was finally sold for 72,300 Euros, while a gent's astronomical wristwatch "Datograph Perpetual" by Lange & Soehne (lot no. 183) with perpetual calendar, day, date and month indication, moon phase and leap year, flyback chronograph and day/night indication was close behind with a sum of 68,400 Euros.

The collectors of fine and exceptional Renaissance clocks once again found their treasures at Stefan Muser's auction; lot no. 354, an important Renaissance clock "The Upright Lion" with automaton and hour strike with makers' initials "MD" dated circa 1610 was finally sold for 89,000 euros; the Augsburg automaton clock by an unknown master "Listening Dog" with quarter hour/hour strike went to its new owner for 77,000 Euros as lot no. 353.

"The fact that 72% of the objects in the auction went to new owners shows us, that very complicated watches of the highest quality and outstanding works of art will achieve exceptional prices as usual even in the present situation of crisis in the finance markets; the art market has not collapsed and it will not collapse", states Stefan Muser. Auktionen Dr. H. Crott will furthermore contribute to this by continuing to offer the watch enthusiasts excellent opportunities to build or modify their collections at the auctions.