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Details
CIRCA: Hallmark for 1918
MOVEMENT NO: 52’936
CASE MATERIAL: Yellow gold, polychrome enamel
CASE DIAMETER: 52 mm.
DIAL: White enamel
MOVEMENT: Manual, gilt three-quarter plate lever movement, diamond endstone
FUNCTIONS: Power reserve, detent escapement
BOX: No
PAPERS: No
REMARK: Cuvette with maker’s mark AF for Albert Fitzwilliam, pendant marker FT for Fred Thoms
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Lot Essay

Cooke & Kelvey was founded in 1858 by Robert Thomas Cooke and Charles Kelvey in Calcutta, India, as a partnership firm of Pearl and Diamond Merchants, Watchmakers, Jewelers, Gold & Silver Art Workers during the later period of pre-independent India. The atelier famously serviced the Earl of Mayo, Her Majesty Queen Victoria’s Government and later even the last Viceroy, Lord Louis Mounbatten.

The present lot is heightened by a highly attractive polychrome enamel portrait of General Rudra Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana, son of the 11th Prime Minister of Nepal. The General played a pivotal role in Nepal’s Democracy Movement, leading an armed insurgency in support of King Tribhuvan and the Democracy Movement in 1950. For this, the General was awarded with the title of Field Marshall of the Nepalese Army.

The Estate of Dr. Adrian Christie
The Estate of Dr. Adrian Christie reflects the life and passions of a man devoted both to science and the art of timekeeping. A respected pathologist with a medical degree from the University of Wales College of Medicine, Dr. Christie practiced medicine for decades while cultivating a deep appreciation for horology in his spare time. His collecting journey began during a visit to Johannesburg, South Africa, where the discovery of an antique pocket watch inspired a lifelong pursuit that spanned from 17th-century English verge watches to modern classics such as the Patek Philippe Aquanaut and Rolex Submariner. Indeed, Dr. Christie was a passionate member of the National Association of Watch & Clock Collectors (NAWCC).

In his writings for the Macomb County Medical Society Journal, Dr. Christie reflected on how his fascination with watches deepened his understanding of history itself—a passion epitomized by several pieces in his collection, including a remarkable enamel-portrait pocket watch of General Rudra Shumsher, and a highly complicated hunting cased watch made in celebration of King George V.

We are pleased to celebrate Dr. Christie’s collection this season and thank Mrs. Mynetta Christie for her loving anecdotes of a wonderful member of the collecting community.

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