CARTIER, PARIS, NO. 2577, COMPLETED IN 1929
An exceptional and magnificent, nephrite mounted in gold, eight-day duration, Grande Sonnerie carriage desk clock with phases of the moon, days of the week, date and alarm in original morocco fitted box, accompanied by a Cartier certificate

This clock is one of two with the most complicated mechanism Cartier ever made. A Grande Sonnerie, defi ned as a minute repeater which also strikes at each quarter, is an extremely rare clock. The Cartier Museum has just one (Inv. CR 16 A10), and it is without any calendar complications. This particular Grande Sonnerie is even more rare because of its additional complications. It reports the phases of the moon, the days of the week, and the date , as well as functions as an alarm clock.

The clock’s decoration, which is reminiscent of Middle Eastern jewelry, was inspired by the heavens above. In fact, these small clocks have come to be referred to as “Comet” or “Planet” clocks. Designed and produced by Maurice Coüet, famous for his “mystery clocks”, these “semi-mystery” clocks had calendar indications marked by stars and comets, thus further enforcing the heavenly reference.

As to be expected, this clock came from Cartier’s Coüet workshop. Quoting the House of Cartier “...Louis [Cartier] chose Coüet for his exceptional talents, both technical and artistic, which enabled him to fulfi ll any request, even the most amazing… Louis Cartier could not have accomplished this feat without the help of a truly exceptional clockmaker. Maurice Coüet was not yet twenty-fi ve years old when Cartier fi rst noticed him, but he had already acquired solid experience. From 1911 onward, Coüet became Cartier’s exclusive supplier of clocks. Cartier placed his order for mystery clocks that very-year. In the meantime, Coüet would deliver a number of other items, including the tiny clocks known as mignonettes (see lot 101 - 107).”

Art Deco was not a period when makers focused on technical complications. Although some of the most spectacular clocks ever made were produced during this time, they were creations not of the traditional clockmaker, but of the world’s leading jewelry houses. These were times of splendor and fantasy with no expense spared, with precious metals and jewels being used in new and imaginative designs. The fact that this clock combines both the artistry of the Deco period and high level of horological complications not see in any other Cartier clocks, makes it not only exceptional and magnifi cent, but extremely rare as well .

PROVENANCE: The Collection of Hugh J. Grant, Jr. and Lucie Mackey Grant Hugh J. Grant, Jr. (1904-1981) was the son of New York City’s youngest mayor and a collector of fi ne decorative arts, some of which are now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Grant family were important philanthropists and strong supporters of the Catholic Church: Julia Murphy Grant (died 1944), wife of Mayor Grant and daughter of Senator Edward Murphy, donated the funds to establish the Regis (Catholic) High School; and Hugh J. Grant, Jr. donated the family’s mansion on 72nd Street to the Archdiocese of New York in 1975 (it is currently the residence of the Vatican’s ambassador to the United Nations and serves as the Pope’s residence when he is in New York City).

Grant was a graduate of the Columbia University School of Law and a trustee of Manhattanville College and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. He served in the military during World War II, returning to the family home at 20 East 72nd Street after the war, where he lived quietly with his two older sisters. Grant dedicated much of his life to his law practice and to religious devotion and charitable works.

In 1972, Grant married Lucie Mackey Grant (1908-2007), who had been widowed thirteen years earlier. Uncomfortable with living in the Grant family mansion with its fi ve servants, Lucie persuaded her new husband to move to a ten-room apartment two blocks away, decorating it with many of the best pieces from the Grant family collection of decorative art objects. Following her death, the Grant family estate was auctioned at Doyle New York (June 3, 2009). This clock was one of many pieces in the collection assembled by two generations of the Grant family.

SIGNED: Dial, case, box, the case also with Coüet’s mark and French gold mark, the movement by European Watch and Clock Co., Inc.
DIMENSIONS: Height 16 cm, width 11.5 cm, depth 10 cm
FUNCTIONS:: Grande Sonnerie striking, phases of the moon, days of the week, date, alarm, hours, minutes
CASE: Rectangular with gold-framed nephrite panels, the bezel with champlevé black enameled pattern, large rectangular nephrite footed base
DIAL: Gold, silvered, decorated with sunburst engine turning, gold Roman hours on white enamel champlevé ground, outer champlevé minutes divisions, gold rosette half-hours, below the main dial are three subsidiary dials for days of the week, alarm and date with Imperial blue enamel centers, gold stars and gold comet indicators
HANDS: Gold beetle and poker
MOVEMENT: Rectangular, 107 x 75 mm, brass, baluster pillars, going barrels, platform with straight-line lever escapement, cut-bimetallic compensation balance with blued steel Breguet balance spring, calendar driven from the hour wheel, striking on large cathedral three-coil gongs with two hammers

CASE: Excellent
DIAL: Excellent
HANDS: Excellent
MOVEMENT: Excellent