“Timepieces Signed Rousseau”*
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Christophe Roulet
Editor-in-chief, HH Journal
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Charity. Round ''bassine''-shaped watch. Painting on enamel on gold, Jean-Pierre Huaud (1655-1723) and Ami Huaud (1657-1724), Berlin, circa 1690 / 1700. Movement with barrel, fusee, gear-train, verge escapement and balance spring, Rousseau (probably Andr
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Decoration of Rinceaux of Summer Flowers. Round ''bassine''-shaped coach with hour-striking (on bell) and alarm (mobile dial with hand; striking on the same bell). David Rousseau (1641-1738), Geneva, circa 1665 / 1670. Movement signed: ''Dauid Rousseau''
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Young Prince as a Warrior of Antiquity. ''Bassine''-shaped round watch. Painting on enamel on gold and enamel en pâte, attributed to Pierre Huaud the Elder (1612-1680) or Jean-Pierre Huaud (1655-1723). Movement with barrel, fusee, gear-train and verge es
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Virtue Guides the Good Prince. Round ''bassine''-shaped watch. Painting on enamel on gold, attributed to Pierre Huaud the Elder (1612-1680). Movement with barrel, fusee, gear-train and verge escapement, Jean (II) Rousseau (1606-1684), Geneva, circa 1665 /
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Decoration of Floral Rinceaux. Round ''bassine''-shaped watch with hour-striking mechanism (on bell). Principal movement with barrel, fusee, gear-train and verge escapement. Striking movement with toothed barrel, gear-train and hammer, Jean (II) Rousseau
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Cross. Cross-shaped watch. Movement with barrel, fusee, gear-train and verge escapement, Jean (II) Rousseau (1606-1684), Geneva, circa 1630 / 1640. Movement signed: ''Jean / Rousseau'' © Patek Philippe Museum, Geneva
For the 300th anniversary of the birth of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the Patek Philippe Museum, with the Comité Européen Jean-Jacques Rousseau, is organising Timepieces Signed Rousseau, an exhibition which opened on May 11th and will run until mid-October.
It reminds us that “the family of the celebrated Genevan philosopher included a number of watchmakers and artisans in related domains, making the Rousseau dynasty a perfect illustration of seventeenth-century Genevan craftsmanship.”
The Patek Philippe Museum already conserved six watches by Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s grandfather, great-grandfather and great-uncle. In all, some forty of the sixty known timepieces in Europe to bear the Rousseau name will be presented, from private collections and from public and private museums.
These watches are an opportunity to admire a vast array of the techniques then in use, including examples of miniature painting, engraving and the use of rock crystal for cases, some in the shape of a cross. These would have been made for European Catholic dignitaries and princes, given that the wearing of instruments serving papacy and idolatry was strictly forbidden in Geneva. Among the complicated watches on view are some with an alarm or passing strike. These were the feats required of any young watchmaking compagnon of that time. Through the Rousseau family, the Patek Philippe Museum pays tribute to Genevan craftsmanship in the celebrated thinker’s day.
*Timepieces Signed Rousseau – Patek Philippe Museum, May 11th – October 13th 2012
An illustrated catalogue contains a full description of each item, preceded by articles by experts in the economic, social, artistic and literary history of Geneva.
