Cartier. An exquisite silver, enamel, agate and diamond Mignonnette clock
French, No.99458. made circa 1910
£21,420
Auction: 22 May 2025 from 14:00 BST
Description
Key-wind mechanical movement, white enamel dial with fancy numerals, outer minute track, diamond-set hands, translucent canary yellow enamel over silver radial guilloché case with white enamel border with sliding key holes to reverse, star-set rose-cut diamonds to the sides, platinum diamond-set bezel, on an agate base with moulded edges. Dial signed, case and movement numbered, French maker's mark and partially struck assay mark.
Dimensions
Approx. 60mm high, base 44mm wide x 39mm deep.
Provenance
Property of a noblewoman, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first time this clock has been offered publicly for sale.
Footnote
A very similar Mignonnette clock in pink enamel is illustrated and described on page 83 in the book ‘The Cartier Collection’ - Timepieces, published by Flammarion.
Cartier's contact with Russia began with Pierre Cartier's visit to Moscow and St Petersburg in 1904-5. The opulence of taste in Imperial Russia meant that the environment was ripe for French jewellers. Cartier's Parisian rivals Boucheron opened in Moscow in 1897 to much acclaim. Cartier never opened a physical permanent store there but hosted exhibitions twice a year from 1908-1914.
Russia's premier jeweller Fabergé influenced global styles to the extent that Cartier started to produce works in what is now referred to as the “Russian Style” in 1906. Their creations in this style are not as well documented but include jewellery, objects de art, clocks and lapidary works. They even employed the same suppliers and workshops as Fabergé. Their enamelwork was created using the same techniques. The bright canary yellow of this clock was created by applying layer after layer of enamel over a fine engine turned based.
For over a decade, Fabergé and Cartier were rivals of sorts with clients shopping indiscriminately between the two. However when Fabergé closed their London store in 1917 clients transferred over to Cartier.