On October 22, Cannes auction house Azur Enchères will offer lovers of rare complications a timepiece steeped in history: a pocket watch made by Charles Oudin that belonged to one of the heroes of the 1870 war, Vice-Admiral René Julien Marquis.
Passed down from generation to generation, this watch was kept for almost a century by a French family living in the south of France. Made Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor in 1908, René-Julien Marquis left his mark on the history of the French Navy, as did his son, André Marquis, who was behind one of the most spectacular acts of resistance in the Second World War: the scuttling of the French Fleet in the port of Toulon on November 27, 1942, to prevent its expropriation by the Third Reich.
COLLECTION BROCHANT DE VILLIERS ET ARTS DU XXEME SIÈCLE AZUR ENCHÈRES, CANNES | 22.10.2024
It was on the Côte d’Azur that the most exciting watch of early autumn was rediscovered: a historic timepiece by Charles Oudin, best known as one of the French Navy’s watchmakers. Still in business today at 8 Place Vendôme, Charles Oudin is one of France’s oldest watchmakers. If this signature is particularly appreciated by watch collectors, it’s because Charles Oudin was a pupil of the father of modern watchmaking: Abraham-Louis Breguet. Indeed, his very first watches often bore the words “Charles Oudin, élève de Breguet” (“Charles Oudin, pupil of Breguet”). As early as 1801, the company set up shop in the Palais Royal district, but it wasn’t until 1812 that the address “Palais Royal 52” appeared for the first time, as engraved on the timepiece to be auctioned. Charles Oudin’s prestigious clients included Empress Josephine, Queen Victoria and Napoleon III. This collectible watch is a very attractive example of a complicated watch made by the French watchmaker from a draft movement designed by Louis Audemars, whose most important customer Charles Oudin became from 1860 onwards. Equipped with a full calendar, striking mechanism and moon-phase indication, this timepiece features a complication that is virtually non-existent today: the seconde foudroyante. Also nicknamed the “diablotine”, it allows a more precise reading of the time by measuring quarters or fifths of a second, a true revolution in the 19ᵉ century.Presented for sale at the same time as the dispersion of the Brochant de Villiers Collection, this timepiece will be offered for sale with an estimate of €8,000 to €12,000. The sale will be broadcast live on the Drouot.com and Interenchères. platforms.
