The Geneva sales have wrapped up, but the spring auction season continues in Hong Kong, where Phillips will offer a collection of unexpected and wonderful pocket watches made for the Chinese market in the 18th and 19th centuries. As Europeans became enamored with Chinese goods such as tea, silk, and porcelain, the Chinese were equally enraptured by European watches and clocks, often adorned with miniature enamel painting, pearls, gemstones, and hand engraving.

Genevan enamelling, in particular, was world-leading and adorned some of the most elaborate timepieces of the 19th century. Proof of that can be found in the Patek Philippe Museum’s extensive collection of Chinese market watches and clocks.

Today, Chinese market watches seem alien in their lavish and ornate decoration. Collectors’ tastes have become homogenized over time, particularly today, which makes historical Chinese market watches stand out as a world unto themselves, both in style and mechanics. A mini collection of such watches will be sold during the first session of Phillips’ The Hong Kong Watch Auction: XX at 6:30 pm on May 23, 2025.

The extraordinary miniature enamelling found on a clockwatch by L. Vrard & Co.

Lot 804 – Open Face Watch, Signed “Ilbery”

This watch, from around 1820, is signed by William Ilbery, who, along with his mentor, English watchmaker William Anthony, is credited with the origination of the “Chinese Caliber”. It is only signed on the movement, as sterile dials were strongly preferred in the east, even as dial-side signatures became more common.

Ilbery relocated his movement production from London to Fleurier around 1836, likely to take advantage of the relatively cheap skilled labor in the area, while cases were still made in London and Geneva. Ilbery turned to artists based in Geneva for enamel painting, and watches still passed through England before making their way to China by sea on British-flagged ships.

Most pocket watch movements place the center wheel in the center to directly drive the minutes, while the fourth wheel, which carries the seconds hands, is relegated to the periphery. Since the Chinese favored center seconds watches, Ilbery instead put the fourth wheel of his “Chinese Caliber” in the center, while the hours and minutes are indirectly driven. This approach is very common today and is used in the ETA 2824, among many others.

As was common for the time, the movement is only lightly jewelled, though that includes a faceted diamond endstone. You can see some English heritage in the use of a single plate for the center, third, and fourth wheels, as well as some Swiss inspiration in the flying barrel. Most, though not all, Chinese market movements were engraved and sometimes decorated with champleve enamel.

Despite its historical importance and spectacular enamel work, the estimate is a modest HK$160,000 – 320,000 ($20,500 – 41,000).

Lot 805 – Open Face Watch, Signed “Edouard Juvet”

Edouard Juvet was one of the watchmakers in Fleurier who continued Ilbery’s work. This example is from around 1860 though the movement is essentially the same as the precious, other than the balance wheel which now has posing screws and weights.

The Chinese were slow to warm to keyless winding, which they allegedly viewed as less reliable. Some Chinese calibers use a special “crab-tooth” duplex escapement, which makes the seconds hand jump in one-second increments like a clock, however, this watch (and Chinese calibers covered here) use a normal duplex escapement.

The miniature enamel painting is attributed Jean-Louis Richter of Geneva. Richter excelled at landscape painting, from naval battles to rolling hills on music, snuff, and singing bird boxes.

However, when it comes to watches, Richter is known for his quaint “doll-like” faces and idyllic depictions of country life. Also notable, the dust cover is decorated with a compass rose motif seen on many Chinese market watches.

The estimate for this watch is again modest: HK$160,000 – 320,000 ($20,500 – 41,000).

Lot 803 – A Pair of Watches, Signed “Edouard Juvet”

Chinese market watches were often sold in pairs, though the rationale behind this is disputed. At one point, Europeans believed their Chinese clientele wore two watches at once. Based on the impeccable condition of these watches, it seems neither was worn at all.

A currently popular theory is that one watch would be able to stand in if the other were damaged, since sending the watch back to Europe would take at least a year–though there were watchmakers in Shanghai and Hong Kong able to effect the repair of even very complicated watches.

The Chinese idiom, 好事成双 , which translates literally as “good things come in pairs”, also comes to mind. The paintings, when identical, are almost always mirrored, suggesting the watches were meant to complement, rather than replace, each other.

This pair by Juvet, made around 1850, depicts Roman Emperor Titus and Jewish Queen Berenice. Note the use of red flinqué enamel to add interest to the background and tie it together with the decoration on the bezel.

Paired watches are desirable, so you won’t get a discount by buying in bulk. The estimate is HK$400,000 – 800,000 ($51,300 – 103,000)

Lot 812 – Anonymous Rose-Shaped Fantasy Watch

This is a rather tame example of a montre de fantasie, or fantasy watch. Geneva specialized in the manufacture of these oddly shaped watches during the early 19th century. Common forms include fruits, musical instruments, animals, and flowers.

This one in particular is a rose made around 1810, decorated with polychrome enamel and sliced pearls. The leaves are done in a translucent green enamel, and the bow is shaped like a flower stem.

British and French invaders ransacked the Summer Palace in Beijing during the Second Opium War, and countless treasures of the Imperial Court, including many watches, were looted.

This watch, unfortunately, stands as an example of that. It is engraved “Mary P. Mercer 17th December 1863 from the Summer Palace, Peking, 17th October 1863” and lived at The Time Museum in Chicago before returning to private hands.

While not as popular as they once were, fantasy watches are still highly collectible, at least by pocket watch standards. HK$400,000 – 800,000 ($51,300 – 103,000). 

Lot 801 – Perfume Sprinkler Pistol by Moulinié & Bautte & Cie

Some of the more exotic fantasy watches took the shape of firearms, and would react when the trigger was pulled. On some, this would activate a singing bird, this example produces a tulip that squirts perfume as its petals unfurl. The pistol isn’t signed, but can be attributed to Moulinié & Bautte & Cie. of Geneva based on its similarity to other works by the house.

The solid yellow gold fantasy firearm measures 111 mm from muzzle to grip. The barrel is finished in deep blue flinqué enamel and capped off with diamonds. Hunting motifs were common on such watches, like the engraved hound and hare, framed by diamonds, where the barrel and grip meet. Massive diamonds are set on either side of the hammer, which is pulled back to charge the perfume sprinkler.

The grip is even more elaborate, lined with cut pearls and decorated with red flinqué enamel. At the end of the grip are panels concealing a watch, one with a large emerald, the other an opal, both encircled by diamonds. In contrast, the movement inside is an unremarkable chain and fusee verge caliber.

The pistol comes in its original box with keys and a chain. As testament to its importance, there are a pair of nearly identical (sans diamonds) pistols in the collection of the Patek Philippe Museum.

Unsurprisingly, this pistol carries a higher estimate than the other watches, but is still very reasonable at HK$800,000 – 1,600,000 ($103,000 – 205,000).

Lot 807 – Grande et Petite Sonnerie Clockwatch, Signed “L. Vrard & Co.”

Laidrich & Vrard, founded by Swiss watchmaker Edouard Laidrich and his French associate Louis Vrard, was a major importer, retailer, and repairer of watches and clocks during the mid to late 19th century. Their first location was in Shanghai, before expanding to Tianjin and Beijing.

L. Vrard was an important distributor for names like Bovet, and sold watches under their house brand, Hengdeli (亨達利). Today, its successor, Hengdeli Holdings, is one of the largest luxury watch retailers in China and is partially owned by the Swatch Group.

This example uses a clock watch movement from the Vallée de Joux with grande et petite sonnerie and trip minute repeating, and represents a change of direction for Chinese market watches, as it’s no different from movements made for the European and American markets. Notably, it features a pair of miniature enamel hunting scenes by Pierre-Amédée Champod.

The front

Champod is one of the most renowned enamel artists of his era, and is particularly regarded for his hunting scenes and portraits–with good reason, as can be seen by this example.

The front shows Indian hunters defending their camp from an attacking lion, while the back shows them rescuing their wounded comrade from the tiger. Both scenes are ringed in blue enamel and channels set with bisected pearls.

The back

While all of these watches have been in fantastic condition, this one also comes with the original fitted box. Estimate is HK$800,000 – 1,600,000 (US$103,00-205,000).

Preview and auction

The sale and preview exhibition will take place at Phillips Hong Kong in the West Kowloon Cultural District.

Preview
Open daily May 16-25, 2025, from 11:00 am-7:00 pm

Auction
May 23 – 6:30 pm (Evening Session I lots 801 – 816)
May 24 – 2:00 pm (Session II lots 817 – 933)
May 25 – 2:00 pm (Session III lots 934 – 1058)

(All times are local to Hong Kong, GMT+8.)

G/F WKCDA Tower
Cultural District
8 Austin Road West
Kowloon, Hong Kong

For the full catalogue and online bidding, visit Phillips.com.

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