German 18 Carat rose gold quality 1A lever watch Circa 1900

Rose gold full hunter by Uhrenfabrik Union
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A very fine and heavy 18 Carat rose gold full hunter cased quality 1A Glashütte lever pocket watch, circa 1900. Glazed ¾ plate movement, gold screw compensation balance. White enamel dial with Arabic hours, outer minute divisions and sunk subsidiary seconds at six o’clock. Plain case.
Dial signed, case numbered, movement signed and numbered, case and movement with matching numbers.
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Diameter: 56 mm
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Weight: 149 g
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Signed: Uhrenfabrik Union Glashütte in Sachsen
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Johannes Dürrstein was born on August 22nd, 1845 in Niederrad and died on May 7th, 1901. Dürrstein grew up in a middle class family and completed a commercial apprenticeship at the Frankfurt watch wholesaler Ludwig & Fries. He was a German entrepreneur and together with his brother Friedrich, he established his own business in 1874. He repeatedly travelled to Switzerland on business and got to know the important watch manufacturers in the country. The company traded as Dürrstein & Co Glashütte and sold Swiss products as well as watches by A. Lange & Söhne. Nearly 20 years later, in 1893, Dürrstein founded the Uhrenfabrik Union. The watches produced in this manufactory were of outstanding quality and could be made to order with high value complications of all kinds. The range included pocket chronometers, tourbillons and perpetual calendars and usually came with a rating certificate from the Hamburg Observatory. Dürrstein always tried to satisfy the universally strong demand for high quality timepieces and mainly used premium Swiss movements which he bought and cased before selling them to his customers.