A MUSEUM-QUALITY, COURTLY GOLD AND ENAMEL SAVONETTE FROM THE ESTATE OF SULTAN ABDÜLMECID I.

Description:

Auguste Courvoisier & Co. No. 58578. Chaux-de-Fonds, circa 1860.
Made for the Ottoman market
D. ca. 4,5 cm
18kt yellow gold (XRF tested). Colored ecaille painting. Manufactured for the Ottoman market. The front cover features a medallion with an ornamental frame depicting the portrait of Sultan Abdülmecid I, and the back cover features a corresponding view of Constantinople. The white enamel dial features Roman numerals and Arabic minute track, with two subsidiary dials for the day and date. The Swiss pocket watch movement with escapement is marked No. 58578 Aug. Courvoisir & Co. on the inner cover. The hallmark is engraved with the original Courvoisier label.
Original tortoiseshell case, inside with the original Courvoisier label detailing this watch, as well as a second dial for the Ottoman market, a spare crystal, and a 14kt yellow gold key with enamel decoration and a gold-plated chain. Weight of watch approx. 85.4g, key approx. 4.4g.
Important Notice - CITES Regulation
This item contains material (tortoise shell case) that falls under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
In accordance with CITES regulations, this object can only be shipped within the European Union.
From the estate of Sultan Abdülmecid I.
The pocket watch was a personal gift to Hippolyt von Bray-Steinburg, the legation secretary at the court of Constantinople, on his departure in 1873. The watch has been in the family's possession ever since.
Around 1855, Auguste Courvoisier made a pocket watch with a portrait of Napoleon III, likely a gift from the French king to the Sultan. Another watch with a portrait of the Sultan by Auguste Courvoisier is known and bears the number 51012. It was thus created after the watch presented by Napoleon III. Apparently, several watches were commissioned by the Sultan in Chaux-de-Fonds.