Hope Brothers & Co. Pocket Watch with Minute Repeating and Grand Sonnerie
Inventory Number: PW2303014LC
Made in Le Locle, Switzerland, 1890, signed Hope Brothers & Co., 47mm, 18K gold hunter case, case and movement No. 2409, made for the Chinese market. Grande Sonnerie striking and minute-repeating with three hammers on three gongs. White enamel dial, with radial Roman numerals, outer minute track, and subsidiary seconds. Gold spade hands.
16 ligne frosted gilt movement, double train with differential winding, 30 jewels, straight-line lever escapement, cut bimetallic compensation balance, blued steel Breguet balance spring, index regulator, striking the hours and quarters on three gongs with three stacked hammers. Silence/ Chime selection lever on the bezel border, repeating activated by a push piece in the band.
It remains the earliest and the finest quality complicated watch by César Racine, with this feature, known so far and the premises of what Zenith ordered in the early 1900s from Racine and what was manufactured by themselves later. In complicated watches, César Racine can be compared to Louis Audemars (who was earlier) or to Victorin Piguet (who was later).
On loan from the private collection of Mr. Yeung Sau Wong.
Brand History
L. Vrard & Co. was founded as Laidrich & Vrard in 1860, and in 1862 the company was renamed L. Vrard & Co. The owners are Abraham Laidrich and Fr. Vrard. The Vrard company was also known in China as 'Hengdeli' (Hang-Dah-Le) or Hantali.
First, a shop was opened in Tientsin (Tianjin) and a little later a shop was opened in Shanghai (1864) at 36 Nanking Road. In this city, the company was also an agent for Bovet from Fleurier. In 1889 a shop was opened in Hankow (Hankou). A branch was also opened in Hong Kong and Peking (Beijing). They made watches vary from simple models to grand complications.
Swiss watchmaker Pierre Loup was hired by L. Vrard and settled in Tientsin (Tianjin); his four sons were all born in China. His oldest son Gustave started an antique business between Switzerland and China. In 1881, the Loup family purchased L. Vrard & Co., In 1864, the German brothers opened Hope Brother & Co. in Shanghai, and later use the Chinese name “Hengdeli”, in 1917, the company was sold to the May Woo Lee (A Chinse horologe retailer).
