DESCRIPTION:
LPW - Illinois, 7J, 4S, extraordinary woman's portrait and crescent moon form 14K gold original HC with beautiful detail, one side in the form of a portrait of a woman's face with the rendition being continuous between front, side, and rear of case, other side engraved with a crescent moon with its tips framing the space above and below the woman's face and with the woman's flowing hair filling the space at case center, glazed mvt observation cover, six-sided bow, white enamel SS dial, SW-LS, gilt mvt, s#926105. Gross weight of assembled watch 37.2 dwt (57.9 g). An exceedingly rare and remarkably beautiful gold case, this design is attributed to Frederick Rapp who was awarded U.S. design patent 17348 on May 17th, 1887 for his watch case consisting of "a crescent having a face within the horns of the crescent." The case of this example is marked only with "14K" and the intriguingly low and simple serial number 101. Truly a stunning piece, which is also by a wide margin the most remarkable American pendant watch case we have encountered.
CONDITION:
Mvt: Running after a twist to start, overhaul recommended, fine-plus cosmetic mvt condition overall, few scattered spots, some ultra-fine scratch striations from past wiping(s); dial with light hl above seconds-register; fine hands with some areas of oxide and finish loss; case latch is temperamental at times as case swing-ring and bezel must be fully seated for latch to function and even with this step taken the latch occasionally slips open after closing even when swing-ring and bezel are fully seated, case shows hardly any wear, subtle small soft nick to lower cheek of woman's reverse and tiny nick below eye of woman's reverse, no dents, superb engraving detail, ; tight bow, crown shows medium wear; good glass crystals.
ESTIMATE:
$4000
-
$6000
"
"
"
"
"
"
"