PAVEL BUHRÉ. - Lot 75

PAVEL BUHRÉ. Gift from Tsar Nicholas II to Christian A. REINBERG. Soap pocket watch in 14k (583 thousandths) yellow gold with applied guilloché decoration of the imperial eagle of Russia surmounted by a blue enameled ribbon (slightly missing), mechanical movement with manual winding, white enameled circular dial with hours in Roman numerals and minutes in Arabic numerals. Slight dents. In original red leather case with imperial eagle. By Pavel BUHRÉ, with engraved mention of Supplier to the Imperial Court, Nicholas II period (1896-1917). Numbered 98164. Diameter: 5 cm. Gross weight: 87.1 g. (glass missing). Attached are period documents attesting to the gift on behalf of H.M. Imperial and the recipient: an account of the service rendered written by the authority of Port Alexander III in 1906, a certificate of delivery of the watch dated 1907, a bilingual Russian-German baptismal certificate of Christian A. Reinberg dated 1904, 6 photographs featuring Andreas Reinberg. Provenance: - Gift from Tsar Nicholas II of Russia (1896-1917) to Christian A. Reinberg (1871-?) in 1907. - Then kept by the recipient's descendants. History : This watch was presented by Tsar Nicholas II to Christian A. Reinberg in 1907, in recognition of the service rendered in August 1903: at the time, Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Fedorovna were stopping over on their yacht at the Alexander III harbor in the fortress of Liépava, in present-day Latvia. Christian Reinberg was in charge of the port's telecommunications at the time, and ensured the yacht's constant communication with land throughout the imperial couple's stay. Four years later, Tsar Nicholas II expressed his gratitude by presenting the watch. Literature: Similar watches are shown in "The Russian Imperial award system", U. Tillander-Goldenheim, Helsinki, 2005, p. 208 (N°86 & 88). Expert : Maxime CHARRON