Swiss niëllo silver quarter repeating lever watch Circa 1914

Silver niëllo commemorative watch by Le Phare
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A rare Swiss niëlo silver open faced quarter repeating lever pocket watch commemorating the shooting contests Tir Cantonal du Centenaire Genève 1814-1914, circa 1914. ½ Plate movement, screw compensation balance. White enamel dial with black Arabic hours, red Arabic 24 hours, outer minute divisions and subsidiary seconds at 6 o’clock. The case back with a niëllo silver version of the Geneva canton coat of arms with the eagle, the key and the motto Post tenebras xux (light after darkness).
Dial signed, case numbered.
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Diameter: 54 mm
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Weight: 99 g
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Signed: Le Phare
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A simplified version of the Geneva canton coat of arms is sometimes used as the ‘Geneva seal’ on watch movements of particularly high quality.
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The Le Phare watch manufactory was founded in 1888 in Le Locle, Switzerland, high in the Neuchâtel mountains. The company, which later launched the Jean d’Eve watch range, has left its mark on the story of Swiss watchmaking. Indeed, from 1889, its watches were rewarded by the most eminent prizes, a gold medal at the National Exhibition of 1896 in Geneva followed that of 1889 at the Great Universal Exhibition in Paris. In 1897 the silent regulator was invented. A veritable technological marvel that overcame the humming problems beset the repeater watches of the day. This brought another gold medal for Le Phare at the Paris Great Exhibition of 1900. The company continued to develop and in 1970 was the second largest producer of chronograph watches in Switzerland. The management’s strategy is to take maximum advantage of its remarkable know how to develop new ways of measuring time.