Swiss 18 carat gold chronometer with chronograph Circa 1915

Gold lever chronograph by Vacheron & Constantin
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An extremely rare Swiss 18 carat gold open faced pocket chronometer with a chronograph and 30 minute counter, circa 1915. Bridge movement, lever escapement, gold screw compensation balance. White enamel dial with Arabic numerals, sunk subsidiary seconds at 6 o’clock and 30 minute counter at 12. Plain bezels, the case back engine turned.
Dial signed, movement and case numbered. Comes with the original presentation box.
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Diameter: 51 mm
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Weight: 108 g
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Signed: Chronomètre Royal Vacheron & Constantin Genève
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The Chronomètre Royal was one of the most popular pocket watches on the South American market, comparable to Patek Philippe’s ‘Gondolo’ model. A watch of this type with additional complications is extremely rare to be found.
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Jean-Marc Vacheron was born in 1731 and died in 1805. He founded a watch workshop in the Geneva district of Saint Gervais in 1755. In 1785 his son Abraham took over the then-still-small company. Their watches were favoured by the nobility, clergy and wealthy merchants. Sales deteriorated dramatically during the French Revolution and Abraham found himself confronted with numerous problems. He married and attached to his name, according to tradition, his wife’s surname. Thus the name of the workshop changed to Vacheron-Girod. At the beginning of the 19th Century, Abraham’s son Jacques Barthélemy Vacheron took over management of the company, which changed the name to Vacheron-Chossat. On numerous business trips to Italy, France and Germany, Jacques Barthélemy found new customers for their sophisticated products, including pocket watches with very flat movements for the time, hunting-cased watches and minute repeaters, built into expensive and elegant cases. In 1819, Vacheron brought in the son of a cloth merchant, François Constantin, as a partner to support the distribution of watches and the company became known as Vacheron & Constantin. Constantin had gained his first experience in the watch industry as a salesman for Jean-François Bautte and his exceptional abilities soon overcame the company’s previous financial difficulties. Sales figures rose significantly and Vacheron & Constantin began selling in New York by Jean Magnin and in New Orleans by Brey by 1830. In 1970 the ‘&’ was taken from the name, henceforth the company was called Vacheron Constantin. It is the oldest continually active watch manufacturer in the world. The brand logo is the Maltese cross. Today, Vacheron Constantin is part of the Richemont group.