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Gold Watch Case, Rose Engine Lathe Patterns, Guilloche w/ Chimera Hallmark SSCA Treasure [149458]

Currency:USD Category:Jewelry / Vintage & Antique Start Price:2,500.00 USD Estimated At:5,000.00 - 20,000.00 USD
Gold Watch Case, Rose Engine Lathe Patterns, Guilloche w/ Chimera Hallmark SSCA Treasure [149458]
SOLD
12,500.00USD+ (2,500.00) buyer's premium + applicable fees & taxes.
This item SOLD at 2023 Mar 05 @ 17:12UTC-8 : PST/AKDT
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Gold Watch Case, Rose Engine Lathe Patterns, 47mm diameter, front and back. Contents dissolved in the seawater. Very fancy machine patterns, probably made by a Guilloche, rose engine lathe. Both sides have a French Chimera hallmark, a mark used by the French between 1838 and 1893 for watches imported into France. These were often Swiss watches, particularly the more expensive kind such as this.

It tests at 18kt gold. The numbers on the reverse of the top are 63 on one side and 895 on the other. On the back piece are the numbers 14863 (serial number?) and 895 (again). Total weight 44.95 grams.

Two companies, among others, were known for their use of Guilloche on jewelry in the 1850s: Patek Philippe and Faberge. One of the popular styles of the period was to fill in light depressions with a translucent enamel, of which we have seen examples on jewelry found on the SSCA.

This was a very expensive watch that was possibly sold in France, and thus to one of the French passengers or a wealthy American who had traveled to France. There were only three Frenchmen onboard the SSCA, one of whom probably carried the green-white St. Maurice and St. Lazarus medal. The medal, however, was found in the main body of the ship on an early SSCA expedition. This watch was found in an unknown debris field in 2014, one of the last items recovered.

Provenance: SS Central America Collection