1090 - THE EPEE PARIS SPECIAL & LIMITED EDITION

THE EPEE PARIS SPECIAL & LIMITED EDITION Model: L'Astronomia, No. 10/100 Year: 1993 Case: gold-plated brass and burl wood, tapered columns and beaded capitals Dial: enamel with Roman numerals, subsidiary dials for day of the week, date, moon phases, sunrise and sunset, large central wheel indicating the month. Movement: No. 93287027, gilded brass Accessories: original case and certificate Signatures: dial and movement Dimensions: 35 x 22 cm, height 46 cm An interesting and rare astronomical clock from the L'Epée Paris manufactory. Auguste L'Epée, of Swiss origin and born in 1798, gained worldwide fame for his precision mechanics and began producing complex musical clocks. Remaining true to the founder’s principles, Auguste L’Epée & Cie won its first medals at world’s fairs (Paris in 1889 and 1900, Vienna in 1882) as well as in the United Kingdom and the United States. The manufactory, recognized worldwide for its high-quality escapements—which were so cutting-edge for the time that they placed the company at the forefront of the watchmaking industry—saw the family withdraw from the business following the advent of quartz. The new management, while retaining the brand, chose to focus on producing top-of-the-line timepieces and participated in the Concorde aviation project, equipping the supersonic jet’s inaugural flights with wall clocks. It also initiated a collaboration with “Cristelleries de Baccarat” and the House of Hermès. The Astronomia clock is an extremely complex timepiece and was unveiled at the Basel Fair, where it was a huge success. As new