Lot 35: HENRI BERTHOUD

HENRI BERTHOUD A UNITED STATES OF AMERICA PRESENTATION WATCH FOR LIFE SAVING AT SEA: A FINE AND RARE 18K YELLOW GOLD HUNTING CASED TWO-TRAIN SPLIT SECONDS CHRONOGRAPH WITH JUMP QUARTER SECONDS CIRCA 1880 • two-train lever movement, highly jeweled • gold cuvette • white enamel dial, Roman numerals, subsidiary jump quarter-seconds, outer track calibrated for chronograph • heavy engine-turned case, the cover with champlevé enamel medallion depicting a lifesaving scene, the rear cover with champlevé medallion in red and black of the Seal of the United States of America • dial and movement signed diameter 57 mm

The present lot was originally intended to be given as an award for an extraordinary act of heroism at sea. As was the tradition in the 19th century, a watch was given from the President of the United States on behalf of the American people to a foreigner who selflessly saved a U.S. citizen at sea. Known as the 'Official Award to Non-Citizens of the United States of America for Saving Lives at Sea', the watch presentation program was approved by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862. Typically, the watches depicted a rescue at sea on the front a case and the Seal of the President of the United States of America on the case back. On the cuvette, a presentation inscription was engraved to celebrate the heroic action of the recipient.

This present lot is extraordinary in that the cuvette has never been engraved and the watch appears to have never been worn. This suggests that this watch was made to order and never presented. Most U.S. presentation watches from this time period were time-only watches, underscoring the rarity of the present watch featuring a chronograph.