RLalique.com

Normandie ATO Loose-Copy Clock information and photos at RLalique.com are tied together on this main Normandie ATO Loose-Copy Clocks page. Past and future auctions, historical details, sales, copies, reproductions, articles and more are all accessible from here. This page grows as more info is added to the website.

Note: About That Often Repeated Claim By Various Auction Houses And Their Experts Of Documentation In The ATO Archives Connecting René Lalique to the Normandie Clock: That ridiculous fact free, document free, made-up claim has been proven false and totally de-bunked. See the February 2024 update below.

Update Feb 28, 2024: The Swatch Watch company is based in Japan. Swatch is in possession of the ATO Archives. We requested that Swatch research the ATO archives to see if there is any document connecting René Lalique to the ATO Normandie Clock. Swatch confirmed to us in writing that there is no document in the ATO archives linking René Lalique to the Normandie Clock. Therefore all claims by auction houses* that such a document is in the ATO Archives are false. See the full announcement HERE!

*In reality auction houses do not make false claims. If there is a false claim, yes the auction house as a company is responsible. But there is a person or people involved in some way with the auction house that is/are responsible as well for putting forth the false claim. These false claims do not appear out of thin air. In America, we have a Latin expression which collectors should be mindful of: Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus. Our laymen level understanding of this expression in common law in the U.S. is that if a person makes a knowingly false statement in one matter or subject (uno), you can rightfully conclude that other statements they make on other subjects or matters (omnibus) are likely to be false as well. Deceitful in one, deceitful in all! is the best short version of our understanding. Collectors should apply this standard to all auction house employees and "experts" and "consultants" and by whatever other title they give themselves. Most people are honestly going along trying to do the right thing. But some are not. Your best defense is to get as educated as possible. The more you know about the collecting field, the less likely you are to be fooled by false claims of supposed "experts". For the record, we have seen a well known auction house expert make a knowingly false claim for a benefit of less than $200.

Also Note: There are 2 similar ATO clocks that in the modern era are referred to by auction houses as "Normandie" clocks. One of the clocks has the name NORMANDIE spelled out on the face in lieu of 9 of the expected numbers, and has the molded full name of the Normandie owner in the glass on the reverse. That clock is the ATO clock that was commissioned for the maiden voyage of the Normandie. The clock you see on this page is a later loose-copy by ATO of the commissioned clock, that in addition to other changes, has had the Normandie name removed from the front and the boat owner's name removed from the reverse. This much more common clock was mass-marketed to the public. Based on appearances in the modern era there are by far a lot more of these later loose-copy clocks than there are of the actual commissioned original ATO Normandie clocks.

Also Note: To the extent we say we have seen no evidence to document a Lalique connection it applies equally to both clocks discussed above. With that in mind, there is zero documentary evidence that we are aware of that René Lalique had anything to do with either clock. We cannot find even one instance where a seller making the claim of some kind of Lalique attachment to the clock, including claims that documentation exists to prove it, has ever provided any documentation to prove it. The clock is obviously not in the Catalogue Raisonne and is only in our catalogue so that potential buyers can see this statement. We repeatedly urge typical R. Lalique collectors not to buy items that are undocumented and/or unsigned. Here you have a trifecta of red alerts: NO DOCUMENTATION, NO R. LALIQUE SIGNATURE, NOT IN THE CATALOGUE RAISONNE. The clock itself bears the correct attribution, having the expected molded marks in the glass: "ATO" and "MADE IN FRANCE" with no further markings.

Also Note: The fact that we are calling this later loose-copy clock a "Normandie Clock" is only that we are repeating what the modern day sellers have called the clock. We're using the sellers' name for it so that interested collectors looking for information about a supposed "Normandie Clock" can find it here. We are not Normandie experts, but from what we know we would never say that this particular later loose-copy clock was a commission from the owner of the Normandie (Compagnie Générale Transatlantique aka CGT). See the loose-copy box below that explains how ATO purposefully dissociated this later loose-copy clock from the Normandie and CGT. Basically, modern day sellers are calling this clock something that ATO itself did not call it, using a name ATO purposefully removed when creating this later loose-copy.

Also Note: Of course, even if this clock had been a CGT commission for the Normandie, that would be completely irrelevant to the document-free, fact-free vague claim by sellers of the clock that René Lalique had something (always it's a general undocumented and unspecified something) to do with the clock. We've seen many auction house sellers including their various experts and consultants claim that Lalique's involvement with the clock is documented in the ATO archives! We now know from the February 2024 update at the top of this page that the ATO document claim is false. Here we are in 2023, nearly 90 years since the clock was made by ATO, and no document showing any involvement by René Lalique with the clock has been produced by any seller or anyone else that we can find! Those anyone elses (none of whom to our knowledge has ever claimed a Lalique involvement) include the Lalique company, the Lalique family, the Haviland family, the Musée Lalique, CGT, CGT's successor CGM (Compagnie Générale Maritime), Felix Marcilhac/Catalogue Raisonne, and as you now know from the update near the top of the page, we can add ATO to this list!

See The Entire Catalogue Of: Rene Lalique Clocks

All Normandie ATO Loose-Copy Clocks 2023-06-24  Not R. Lalique Sales Results 2022-12-08  Not R. Lalique Sales Results 2022-10-20  Not R. Lalique Sales Results

For Sale By Us: Normandie ATO Loose-Copy Clocks None For Sale   Loose-Copies: Normandie ATO Loose-Copy Clocks This clock is a later loose-copy by ATO of their known commissioned Normandie Clock. In addition to other distinguishable differences, it appears that starting with that known clock, ATO removed the name Normandie from the front of the clock and then removed the prominently molded full name of the owner of the Normandie from the back of the clock, thereby creating this purposefully NOT NORMANDIE CLOCK!   Post War Lalique Crystal Reproductions We Are Not Aware Of Any Modern Crystal Reproductions   Blog Articles That Mention Both Normandie ATO Loose-Copy and Clock Check For Articles

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