ADAM'S Fine Jewellery & Ladies Watches 2nd December 2025

TUESDAY 2 ND DECEMBER 2025 . STARTING AT 4PM 82 C.H. MEYLAN: A RARE ART NOUVEAU LADY’S PEARL AND DIAMOND LAPEL POCKET WATCH, SWISS, CIRCA 1905 Of manual wind movement, keyless, the open-faced circu- lar white enamel dial with Arabic numerals and gold bead- ed outer minute and Louis XV hands, within gold foliate sur- round in high relief, the reverse decorated with a baroque pearl at the centre to form a flowerhead, accented with old single-cut diamonds, with conforming applied foliate dec- oration, the suspension loop and detachable brooch of similar design, case stamped 14K & numbered 2021, move- ment signed C.H. Meylan Brassus, Swiss & numbered 10701, length 6.7cm € 1,200 - 1,800 86 84 A LADY’S EARLY 20 TH CENTURY SAPPHIRE AND DIAMOND-SET COCKTAIL WATCH, CIRCA 1915 16-jewel manual wind movement, the tonneau-shaped silver dial with Arabic numeral, bezel and lugs highlighted with sin- gle-cut diamonds and calibré-cut sapphires, cabochon blue crown, case with snap on back and foliate engraved detailing, mounted in platinum, bracelet in 9K gold, movement signed Lusina, case: 14mm €500-700 83 A PAIR OF BELLE ÉPOQUE DIAMOND HAIR ORNAMENTS, CIRCA 1910 Each openwork foliate surmount, set throughout with old bril- liant and single-cut diamonds within millegrain setting, to dou- ble orange balelite sliders, mounted in gold, both diamonds approximately 5.00cts total, lengths approximately 12.9cm € 2,000 - 3,000 Charles-Henri Meylan (1842–1916) was born in Le Sentier, Switzerland, in the heart of the Vallée de Joux, al- ready famed as the “Valley of Complications.” Orphaned at a young age and received only a modest education. Sur- rounded by hundreds of small workshops, he began his apprenticeship early. At just twenty-two, Meylan moved to London, joining the famed house of Nicole & Capt, suppli- ers of precision movements to Frodsham, Dent, and Tiffany & Co. There he worked as a repasseur, responsible for the final and most exacting adjustments of fine watches. Af- ter returning to Switzerland to study movement design in Geneva, Meylan looked abroad once more, this time to New York, where he arrived in 1871. America’s industrial revolu- tion was in full swing, yet few could match European finesse in complicated watchmaking. Meylan recognised this gap and began importing and finishing ebauchés for Mathey Bros., Mathez & Co., patenting several complications and collaborating with leading movement makers such as Lou- is-Elisée Piguet, H.L. Matile, and LeCoultre. By 1888, Meylan had returned home to the Vallée de Joux, founding his own workshop in Le Brassus. From this tranquil setting beside a small brook, he produced some of the most refined watches of his era, everything from elegant time-only pieces to split-seconds chronographs, minute repeaters, and remarkably intricate ladies’ complications. Between around 1890 and 1915, the workshop achieved an extraordinary out- put, averaging one grand complication every other year and supplying over a hundred prestigious jewellers worldwide. Among them were Cartier, Tiffany & Co., Van Cleef & Arpels, and other great houses who discreetly retailed his masterful movements under their own signatures. Meylan’s death in 1916 marked the end of the company’s most innovative period. The firm continued into the Art Deco era, later acquired by Baume et Mercier in 1947 and fully ab- sorbed by 1952. Though the name eventually disappeared, C.H. Meylan’s legacy endures in the precision, beauty, and ingenuity of his movements, hallmarks of the finest watch- making of the Vallée de Joux.