Ultra thin Swiss 18K gold open faced lever watch Circa 1916

Gold lever pocket watch by Audemars Piguet & Cie
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An elegant and ultra thin Swiss 18 carat gold open faced lever pocket watch made for the German market, circa 1916. Bridge movement, lever escapement, screw compensation balance. Silvered dial with applied hour batons, outer minute dots and subsidiary seconds at 6 o’clock. Plain case and maker’s mark SIG.
Dial signed, case numbered, movement signed and numbered.
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Diameter: 42 mm
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Weight: 43 g
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Signed: Audemars Piguet Genève Swiss
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Audemars Piguet & Cie. Jules Louis Audemars, born on March 28th, 1851 and died on October 15th, 1918 and Edward Auguste Piguet born in 1853 and died in 1919 were two young and ambitious watchmakers who established their workshop in 1875 in their home village Le Brassus, Vallée de Joux, Switzerland. Audemars was in charge of production and technical aspects while Piguet focused on sales and management. Believing in the power of the Vallée de Joux’s network of artisanship and following their firm convictions, they set on crafting unique complicated mechanisms by hand at a time when serial production was looming with the rise of industrialisation. While the two entrepreneurs first produced complicated movements that were sold to Geneva based firms, they soon orchestrated the production of complete watches in the region by coordinating the activities of a variety of craftsmen, buying in blanks, cases, dials, bracelets and sending out pieces for gem setting and decorating. The miniaturisation, design, assembly and setting of movements were then done at Audemars Piguet’s workbenches. The company ledgers demonstrate that nearly 80% of the 1600 watches produced by Audemars Piguet between 1882 and 1892 included at least one, if not several complications. Refined chiming, chronograph and astronomical watches, assembled and finished by hand, have remained the beating heart of Audemars Piguet ever since.