SIGNED THOMAS ENGEL, CHRONOMETRE TYPE CONCOURS OBSERVATOIRE MODEL, NO.46, CIRCA 1980

A particularly beautiful example of a Thomas Engel ‘Type Concours Observatoire’ lever chronometer with eccentric days of the week calendar, moon phases and seconds at 6 o’clock, thermometer sector at 10 o’clock and ‘Up/Down’ power reserve aperture below 12 o’clock. The guilloché enamel decoration of the case back is a stunning feature, it is further decorated with gold paillons with a bee just off-centre surrounded by star constellations.

Professor Thomas Engel (1927-2015)
Was an inventor, author and watch aficionado, collector, maker and was an international leader in the field of researching polymers. He held around 120 patents in organic chemistry and was awarded numerous honours and prizes in this field, including the 1972 ‘Diesel Prize’ which he jointly won with Dr. Wernher von Braun, one of the most important rocket developers and specialist of space exploration.

Professor Engel was not only a famous watch collector but also a passionate ‘self-taught’ maker of technically outstanding timepieces. From the moment he first held a pocket watch in his hands, incidentally a Breguet, he knew he had found a passion that would take his life in another direction. Within the horological community, he is acknowledged for his understanding of the life and works of Abraham Louis Breguet, on whom he also published a biography.

His interest spanned beyond the average collector, applying his knowledge and skills to watchmaking, producing watches made in the style and technique of Breguet. Of outstanding quality and finesse, these so-called ‘Engel Breguets’, such as the present example, have become highly sought-after collector's pieces.