English 18K gold hunting cased repeating lever watch Circa 1890

Gold minute repeating full hunter by Nicole, Nielsen & Co
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A small and decorative English 18 carat gold hunting cased minute repeating lever pocket watch, circa 1890. ¾ Plate movement, lever escapement, gold screw compensation balance. White enamel dial with Roman hours, outer minute divisions and subsidiary seconds at 6 o’clock. The case is chased and engraved on both sides with elaborate ornamentation, monogrammed, case maker’s mark EN for Emil Nielsen, the pendant chased JC. Dial signed, case numbered, movement signed and numbered, case and movement with matching numbers.
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Diameter: 38 mm
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Weight: 68 g
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Signed: Nicole Nielsen & Co 14 Soho Square London
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Nicole, Nielsen & Co had a reputation for the fine quality of their watches, they were one of the main suppliers for Chas. Frodsham. It started out as a manufacturer of chronographs but extended its product range to include pocket chronometers, carrousel watches and tourbillons for well-known brands in London. The Swiss parent company Nicole & Capt was founded in Geneva in 1837. Adolphe Nicole and his partner Henry Capt opened their first branch in 1840 in London. Jules Capt joined the company as a partner in 1843 after Henry Capt had died. One year later Adolphe Nicole received his first patent. He was issued two more patents, in 1862, for a chronograph movement, and in 1870, for a resilient lever. Shortly after Jules Capt’s death in 1876 Sophus Emil Nielsen, son-in-law and employee of Nicole, became a partner and applied for a patent for an up-and-down mechanism. In 1888 Sophus Emil Nielsen sold the company to Mr North and held the position of managerial director together with Harrison Mill Frodsham. Whereas Nicole, Nielsen & Co probably had many of their special parts made in Switzerland, the majority of parts were produced on the premises at Soho Square. In 1898 31-year-old Robert Benson North became the director of the company. Sophus Emil Nielsen died in 1899. In 1904 the production range was extended to include tachometers for cars and a new factory for this line was built in Watford in the northwest of London. In 1917 the company name changed from ‘Nicole Nielsen & Co Ltd’ to ‘North & Sons Ltd, 14 Soho Square’. After the First World War, the company suffered heavy sales losses. Robert Benson North died in 1929 and in 1932 the company entered into liquidation, truly a sad ending for a staff of 350 in Watford and for the employees at headquarters at Soho Square.