Bi-color gold Chronometer no. 11539

Case: Two color gold, made by Verger Freres for Charlton & Co., NY, case no. 10148, and 28910 on bow Dial: Bras en l'air Movement: lever escapement with capped escape, 18J, fausses-cotes NI damascene of top quality with twin Geneva seals, s#11539 on mvt Provenance: 19?? - Haas Neveux, Geneva 2013 - Jones Horan 2013-10-06 $16,000 "EPW - Verger Frères, Paris, "Mandarin" bras en l'air dress watch, mvt by haas Neveux & Cie, Genève, the figure of a seated Mandarin raising his arms to indicate the time on two sector dials when pushing in the button on the band, 44mm, 18K white and yellow gold OF original case with VF trademark stamp and French eagle's head touchmark, SW-SS, original silvered dial with gold, enamel and stone-set seated figure, lever escapement with capped escape, 18J, fausses-cotes NI damascene of top quality with twin Geneva seals, s#11539 on mvt, s#10148 on case, #28910 on bow. The Verger brothers, Georges and Henri (sons of founder Ferdinand), registered their trademark in 1896, according to Antiquorum's "Art of French Horology" sale catalog, and numbered among their designs not only these famous bras en l'air (literally, "arms in the air") watches, but Cartier's mystery clocks and others. The brothers were Paris agents for Vacheron and Constantin, casemakers, and designed for Ostertag, Van Cleef & Arpels, Boucheron, Mauboussin, Gübelin, La Cloche, Tiffany and Cartier. Antiquorum attributed this information to Parisian jeweler Jean-Pierre Brun (p 398 of the 1993 catalog). The identical watch can be seen in the Van Cleef & Arpel collection bearing their signature, and another from the private collection of Theodor Beyer sale at Antiquorum on 2003, made for Charlton & Co, New York. A third example retailed by Gübelin, sold at Christie's in June 2011 for $13,750." 2013 - YouTube video 2018 - YouTube video